Friends First
by fischstix
Summary: AU Addek. Mark and Derek are BFF and working at SGH with Bailey and Burke. Starts two weeks before Season 1. All interns will be included. Addison comes to SGH from NY for awhile. Reunites with her old buddies Derek and Mark. Sparks fly!
1. Hello Boys

**So I am still updating _Starting Over_, but I was hit with a plot bunny that will just not leave my head until I put it on paper and share it with the world. Here it goes…premise: it's an AU. Mark and Derek live in Seattle and work at SGH under Richard with Burke and Bailey. Interns will be in shortly, but haven't started yet in the timeline. That's all you get for now, so enjoy the first chapter, tell me what you think and if anything confuses you, and never forget two things: Addek is love, and reviews may as well be sugar on top of ice cream on top of chocolate cookies.**

**Seattle Grace**

**7:00 A.M.**

Derek and Mark sat in opposing wheel chairs of the nearly bare surgical ward. They, like Bailey and Burke, had been on all night due to a serious car accident on the highway. 9 hours of surgeries, stitches, and espressos, they were finally getting a chance to sit and relax. Sleep would have been priority one, if not for Richard's meeting at 7:15.

"We should just quit. Quit, and sleep forever." Derek said, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, right. We can only fish so much. Let's face, our lives are our work." Mark replied, equally as drowsy.

"Look at you Mr. Rational. I figure with you missing that date with Sarah, Nicole, Heather, whatever her name was, would have made you much more onboard with my plan."

"There's always tonight." Mark said with a smirk, leaning back in his chair. Derek just laughed at his best friend. Mark had been the same way since college, and showed no signs of changing. Derek popped up on his back two wheels and began to roll towards Mark. They engaged in their typical time-killing wheel chair wars, until a hand yanked down firmly on each of their chairs. Both men looked up angry, a look which quickly changed to guilt.

"What are you two fools doing?" Bailey asked in her Nazi tone.

"Nothing. We weren't doing anything." Derek responded, stuttering a bit. Mark shot him a _seriously? _Look. Derek just shrugged: she was scary, even just as a resident.

"You're attending surgeons. Shouldn't you be doing something a little more productive with your time, like, saving a life!" Bailey shouted.

"Hey! We saved plenty of lives last night. We are just killing time before Richard's meeting, at which time we were both promised naps if we stayed awake the whole time, and were on time." Mark spoke confidently.

"For once. That would be a nice change. Get a meeting done on time for a while…" Bailey dragged off as she walked away to the nurses' station, murmuring about how so much talent was wasted on two pretty faced white boys. Mark looked at Derek, shrugging, causing Derek to break out in to laughter. Both men returned their chairs to their proper spots before joining Bailey and Burke at the station.

"Oh, the infamous Dr. Burke. Saw that bypass you performed at about 3 A.M.: very impressive work."

"Thank you. So I'm going to take a wild guess that Richard promised you two something also to actually attend this meeting.

"What makes you say that?" Mark asked, disbelieving.

"You're on time." Burke said definitively, walking away with a laughing Bailey. Mark and Derek just looked at each other.

"We're not that bad are we?" Derek asked.

"They're just exaggerating. We just work harder than them." Mark responded smugly. Derek laughed, patting Mark on the back as they made their way to the conference room to meet Richard.

**Conference Room**

**7:15 A.M.**

Small-talk filled the conference room of attendings and senior residents, all awaiting the arrival of the Chief to get the meeting started. Derek and Mark discussed weekend plans to catch the Seahawks vs. Jets game at Mark's place and fish a bit early on Sunday.

"Alright, let's get this meeting started. I know you're all tired, but I do want to first commend all of your efforts last night. We had an astounding survival rate, so pat all of yourselves on the back." A round of applause rang through the room.

"Now, getting down to business. First, our new batch of interns arrives in two weeks. You all know what that means."

"New meat." Mark chimed in, getting a round of laughter from the entire room. When everyone finally calmed down, Richard responded.

"Thank your Dr. Sloan. Glad you could come at all, and make your appearance known to boot. Anyway…" Mark's grin turned slightly embarrassed. Derek slapped Mark on the arm, still laughing to himself.

"Like I said our new interns. They are young, they are impressionable, they are bright, and they are going to screw up. Watch them. Guide them. Don't let them kill anyone! Are we clear?" A round of yes's filled the room. Richard nodded in approval.

"Thank you. Number two: we have are going to have a new attending visiting us for a few months. With Jenny going on maternity leave ahead of schedule, I called in some huge favors and as of Monday, Addison Montgomery will be joining our Seattle Grace Hospital staff as the head of our neonatal department." At the sound of her name, a buzz rang through the room. Addison was extremely well-known, published constantly, and had a reputation in the medical world to die for. For Mark and Derek though, there was a personal interest. At the sound of her name, they both sat up in their seats, looking at Richard, and then each other.

"How the hell did you wrangle to come to this hole in the wall?" Someone shouted from the back of the room. Laughter spread through the room. Mark and Derek remained shell shocked.

"I guess lack of sleep makes you all witty. Actually, Dr. Montgomery was _my _intern back in the day and is a personal friend. She was very in to the idea of coming to our "hole in the wall" as you have so effectively named it to help us out. To honor her arrival, we will be having another meeting Monday morning at 9:30 to introduce her. Be on time. That's all. Those who are off, get out of here. Everyone else, try and catch an hour or two. Those with the more competent residents, three or four. Answer all pages, or I will personally keep you up for another 24 hours."

The crowd eagerly cleared out of the room, vying for the best on call rooms to pass out in. Derek and Mark rose slower, hoping to catch Richard on their own.

"Oh good, I need to talk to the two of you."

"Chief, is Addison really coming?" Derek, asked, slightly shocked, slightly hopeful.

"Her plane arrives Sunday afternoon."

"Wow. I never thought we'd see her again, man." Mark said.

"Now, Addison requested that you two go pick her up at the airport. She says you 'owe her from saving your asses on the playground in 7th grade'." Both men smiled widely at the memory. It was how they first met Addison. "She didn't elaborate further, but I'm very curious so if one of you could…"

"Mark and I had been friends since preschool. Our parents were friends from college. One day, we were hanging out during lunch and these older kids were in, a very cliché fashion, picking on us." Richard audibly laughed at his star attendings getting picked on, to which Derek and Mark shot him a look.

"Sorry, continue."

"Anyway, Addison came over and kicked him in the stomach for being rude. And that's how we met her." Derek said admiringly, remembering everything detail from that day in his head.

"We became inseparable, the three of us. She was like no girl we had ever met before. We spent all of our time together just hanging out. In 11th grade, her dad got transferred to New York. We haven't seen her since." Mark finished up the story.

"Well, she certainly hasn't forgotten you two either. Her plane lands at 5:45 so do not be late. Is picking her up a problem for either of you?"

"No!" Both men eagerly responded, clearly thrilled at seeing their childhood best friend again. Richard was a bit astounded by their response. They rarely did anything outside the O.R. this enthusiastically.

"Good. Then I'll see the three of you, here, 9 A.M. sharp. I want to brief Addie beforehand and not overwhelm her by throwing her in front of our whole senior staff."

"No problem." Richard nodded at the men and left the room.

"Dude, can you believe this? Addison Montgomery, coming to Seattle Grace." Mark spoke first.

"Not at all. God, remember when she left? We were so dull without her." Derek stated blatantly.

"Yeah." Mark responded honestly.

"Think she's the same?" Derek asked.

"No. I think she's still 5'6" and in love with Tom Cruise in _Risky Business._" Derek shoved Mark out of the room. They walked in sync to find some empty beds to crash in.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I know."

**Seattle Airport**

**5:40 P.M. **

"Think we'll recognize her?" Mark asked Derek, sticking his hands into his jeans pocket.

"I don't know. I'm sure she still has that distinct red hair. I saw a picture of her a while back in a journal."

"Pretty?" Mark inquired.

"Beautiful." Derek turned to his friend and answered without missing a beat. Turning to face forward again, he and Mark began to scan the hoards of people de-boarding from New York. A flash of red caught both their attentions.

"Wow." Derek spoke first, his focus on the beautiful woman walking towards them. Wearing gray slacks, a black blouse, and heels, her red hair curling to her shoulders, she screamed New York socialite.

"Yeah." Mark responded, equally blown away.

Before they realized, Addison was in front of them. Removing her sunglasses, she smiled widely at her two best friends from childhood, both of whom turned extremely handsome.

"Hello boys."

**So…we like? Reviews are nice if you're in a giving mood. P.S. anyone who has seen the Ben Stiller movie _Keeping the Faith_ will find the ending a bit familiar. Hope you all enjoyed.**


	2. Welcome to Seattle

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad everyone liked the opening chapter. The others will be longer, I just wanted to post the first chapter last night and liked ending with Addie's arrival. **

**Same deal as always: read, review, and be merry.**

**Seattle Airport**

**5:45 P.M.**

"Hello boys." Addison spoke smoothly, removing her sunglasses to look at the men in front of her. They both smiled goofily at her. "What? You haven't seen me in fifteen years and I don't even get a hug? Come here!" Mark and Derek took turns giving Addie a welcoming hug.

"Much better. God I can't believe how long it's been. You two suck at keeping in touch." Addie said motioning at the two of them as she headed towards baggage claim. The men exchanged a look before following.

"Us?" Derek exclaimed as they rushed to keep up. "What about you?"

"I was the one that moved away. All alone. You two had each other. A phone call would have been nice once and awhile that's all I'm saying." Derek and Mark exchanged looks again, this time with sadness in their faces.

"Sorry." The both spoke weakly. Addison stopped when she reached her baggage claim belt and turned to face them.

"Okay, that was a pathetic apology… which I fully accept." Both men relaxed a bit at that. "It's in the past. We have a lot of catching up to do in the present. The last time I saw you two you were studying for the SAT's! Now look at you. All grown-up. And with long hair." Addison reached up and ran her hand through Derek's wavy locks.

"Hey, it's not that long!"

"No, it's not. I like it. Very Russell Crowe."

"Really? You hear that? I look like Russell Crowe." Derek directed his remark towards Mark, a showing-off tone in his voice. Mark turned his attention towards Addison, blowing off Derek's remark.

"So, you work in New York?" Mark abruptly changed the topic.

"Yeah." Addison said laughing at Mark's ignorance of Derek's comment. "It's great."

"It's great? That's all we get. Nice try, spill." Derek said.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Fifteen years ago you left me alone with him and moved to California. That's a lot of time. College, med school, let's go!" Derek exclaimed.

"Well, I went to Stanford undergraduate, Columbia med school. Interned for Richard in Manhattan. Fell in love with Neonatal work, went through my residency, became an attending, started my own practice. And here we are." Addison finished up, smiling at the men in front of her.

"Here we are." Derek repeated, unable to keep a smile off his face. Addison met his gaze and smiled back.

"And those are my bags." Derek and Mark turned towards the belt and saw the matching Louis Vuitton suitcases moving towards them.

"I got them." Both men spoke in sync, reaching for the bags. Knocking into each other, they missed the bags coming by. Addison just laughed.

"I've got them." Mark spoke sternly.

"Fine." Derek conceded, stepping back.

"Some things never change." Addison spoke as Mark and Derek glared at each other.

**Joe's Bar**

**6:30 P.M.**

"Guys, what is this place?" Addison asked as Derek and Mark escorted her into Joe's.

"This is the Emerald City Bar, although everyone calls it Joe's. It's the local haunt for the hospital staff. It's fun. The owner is great. Very relaxed."

"Relaxed, huh? If you say so."

"Oh, Addie, have a little faith will you?" Mark said, motioning for Joe's attention as they went to the bar to order. "Hey Joe!"

"Dr. Sloan. Had a feeling I'd see your ugly mug in here tonight. Where's the newest conquest?" Addison looked at Derek, confused. He mouthed 'I'll explain later', to which she nodded.

"Not tonight Joe. But there is someone I'd like you to meet. Joe, this is Addison Montgomery."

"It's nice to meet you, Joe." Addison smiled, shaking his hand.

"Same here. Can I get you anything?"

"Martini would be great, thank you." Derek led Addison to a table, while Mark stayed at the bar. Derek put his coat down and came back to help him carry the drinks.

"Sure thing. The usual for you two?" Joe asked, already reaching for two scotch glasses.

"Joe, you know us too well." Derek responded, grabbing some nuts from the bar.

"So, who is your friend?"

"Addie? We all grew up together. She moved away during high school, has a practice in New York now. Richard called her in to fill in for one of our attendings who are on leave."

"She is friends with you two?" Derek and Mark both looked up at Joe.

"And is why is that so hard to believe?" Derek said defensively.

"Seriously?" Joe asked.

"What?" Mark asked.

"Look at her. She's gorgeous. And you two are…" Joe tapered off, figuring they got the message.

"What are we?" Mark asked this time.

"Nothing. Bring her the drink before some other guy offers to." Joe laughed to himself as he moved down the bar. Mark and Derek shrugged it off and went to join Addison.

"Thank you. So Joe seems nice."

"He is. I think he likes you though." Derek said, sitting down.

"Doubtful, considering he's gay." Mark and Derek nearly spit out their scotch.

"And how do you know that?"

"Women always know." Derek and Mark glared, not accepting that as an answer. Addison rolled her eyes. "I know because when he shook my hand, he actually made eye contact." Addison sipped her martini, winking at Joe. He winked back.

**Joe's**

**9:00 P.M. **

"Another round guys?" Joe asked, coming by their table and breaking up their laughter. Reminiscing of high school druggies did have its own special brand of comedic appeal.

"I shouldn't. I'm exhausted." Addison glanced at her watch.

"Come on, Add its only 9:00. The night is young." Mark said.

"Yes, but its 12:00 in New York. And I need to be bright and chipper for Richard tomorrow. I promised."

"So did we. Just the check, thanks Joe." Derek said.

"No, no you guys stay. It is early. Stay, have a good time. I remember where the hotel is, I'll make it back by myself."

"Addie…" Derek stood, Mark following his lead to protest her leaving alone. "It's your first night in the city. Let us take you home."

"Derek I live in Manhattan. I think I can manage the dangerous streets of Seattle for three blocks." Derek helped Addison get into her coat and turned to face him. Kissing him on the cheek, she hugged him close. She turned to Mark and did the same. "It is great to see you both again. I've missed my boys." Both men smiled.

"We missed you too." Derek spoke up, making definitive eye contact with her.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks Joe." Addison waved to the bartender and headed towards the door. Mark and Derek both sat down again, sipping at their scotch.

"So…" Mark spoke.

"Yeah…" Derek responded. An awkward silence filled the air.

"How hot did she get?" Mark finally said. Derek looked up at him, surprised he said that allowed.

"Oh like you weren't thinking the same thing from the minute she walked off that plane." Derek just nodded. Mark was very right. She was stunning: fifteen years had transformed her from a slightly awkward high school junior with braces to a beautiful woman with amazing red hair and legs for days. Sipping his scotch slowly, Derek inadvertently blocked out Mark's story about his newest conquest. All he could think about was Addison.

**Seattle Grace**

**8:45 A.M. **

"Hey man." Mark said to Derek as he entered the attending locker room.

"Morning. And how was the end of your night?" Derek asked with an accusing tone.

"Fine. How was yours?"

"Good. I especially loved the part where my best friend ditched me for a hot girl in a bar. That was really fun."

"When you went to the bathroom, she sent me a drink. I was only being polite." Mark replied.

"Oh, I'm sure you were a real gentleman." Derek said, patting Mark on the back as he went by balancing three coffees in a holder. Mark followed him out to the nurses' station where he put down the tray.

"Who's the third for?" Mark asked, taking one for himself.

"Addie. Thought it might help calm her first day jitters." Derek looked up from his chart to a grinning Mark. "What?"

"See this is why we are friends: you're the sensitive gentleman and I'm the insensitive ass. We are a perfect team." Mark sipped his coffee as Derek laughed and continued writing on his chart.

"Speak of the devil…" Mark motioned to where Addison and Richard emerged from Richard's office. Derek looked up slightly, trying to focus on finishing this before the meeting. His slight glance turned into gawking as he saw only legs. She was wearing a fantastic skirt that afforded him a great view. Looking back down, he stopped reading and scribbled his name on the line. He suddenly couldn't even try to focus anymore. Before he knew it, Richard and Addison were in front of him.

"Derek, Mark."

"Good morning Chief, Addison." Mark said, unusually chipper.

"What's with you today?" Richard asked.

"Nothing. Just a really good night, sir. I have to check on a patient before the meeting if you'll excuse me." Mark sauntered away.

"What's wrong with him?" Richard immediately questioned Derek.

"I'm the wrong one to ask. He ditched me last night if that indicates anything." Derek said, sipping his coffee. Things finally clicked for Richard, and his face made a noticeable change. Addison tried to stifle her laugh, but couldn't. Derek smiled: she had a very cute laugh.

"Great. Just great. Thanks Shepherd. I'm going to go be…somewhere else. I'll see you both in ten minutes." Richard headed back towards his office and shut the door. Addison and Derek watched him go, laughing the entire time. With Richard out of sight, they turned towards each other.

"So, you nervous?"

"To meet the entire senior surgical staff at Seattle Grace in ten minutes? No not at all." She laughed nervously.

"You're going to do great. But just in case, I did bring you something to calm your nerves." Addison tilted her head curiously as Derek reached behind the desk to grab the coffee he had bought her.

"Derek, thank you." Leaning in, she kissed him quickly on the cheek. "You didn't have to do this."

"It's no big deal. But don't thank me just yet. I had no idea how you take it. Last time I saw you coffee appalled you, so I went with milk and sugar to be safe."

"That's perfect." Addison sipped at the coffee. "So what happened last night? Mark ditched you?"

"Yeah, after you left, I went to the bathroom and came back to see some blond in my seat. Apparently she bought him a drink and he was being a gentleman and talking to her. I took that as my cue to leave."

"Oh, Derek, I'm so sorry I left you alone."

"It's fine. It was nice actually. Went home, relaxed. It was nice." Derek did his best to pretend he was okay.

"You were bored out of your mind weren't you?" Addison asked.

"Yes, I really was." Derek said honestly. "I was going to call you, make sure you got in okay, but I figured you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you."

"I wish you had. I had the hardest time sleeping last night. I think it was the mattress. My back is killing me."

"I'm sorry. You know later if you want, I can take a look at it. I have been told before that I'm pretty good with my hands." Derek said, jokingly suggestive.

"Well, that's quite an offer. I may have to take you up on that. Will see how stressful my first day goes."

"The offer's good all day." Derek smiled dreamily and Addison couldn't help but blush. No one had made her blush in a very long time.

"Well, Dr. Shepherd. Fifteen years has turned you into quite the charmer. You must have girls falling all over you." Addison flirted back.

"That's really more of Mark's territory but I do what I can." Derek said with a cheeky grin, to which Addison shoved him in the arm as she moved past him towards the conference room. "What? Just being honest." Derek grabbed his coffee and followed behind her.

**Conference Room**

**9:00 A.M. **

Addison and Derek entered the room together. As she headed to the front to meet Richard, Derek found Mark talking to Burke in the back and joined them.

"So, is that the famous Addison Montgomery?" Burke asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes it is." Mark responded, joining Burke in watching her conversation with Richard.

"I get the feeling she will be very popular." Burke spoke up. The moment she had entered the room, every man's eyes had drifted and lingered to her direction. Discretion was not a strong suit of many surgeons. Derek scanned the room, checking out what Burke had meant. An odd sense of jealousy came over him.

"Don't short change her. She's an excellent surgeon." Derek said defensively. Both Mark and Burke turned to face him.

"Relax Shepherd. She's not my type. And I know how good a doctor she is. She worked for my former mentor in New York until her practice opened. She's brilliant: actually one of the top five neonatal surgeons in the world. I spoke to him yesterday and he raved about her." Derek and Mark exchanged looks of their own. They hadn't realized how good she was, and she was not at all forth coming about her skill.

"Alright everyone, let's get the meeting going." Richard's voice rang out in the room as everyone ended their side conversations and turned to face front.

"Good morning everybody. We have three things to discuss today. First order of business, now that we have the entire senior surgical staff here, I want to remind everyone again that the new interns start in two weeks so everyone will need to be on their best behavior. We want them to learn how to save patients, not leave them alone long enough to kill them." A round of laughter filled the room.

"Second, like every year, with the new batch of interns comes the intern social the night before their first day. This year's party will be held at the Mercer Hotel. And, like always, I expect all of you to be there." Instead of laughter, a round of groans filled the room.

"Stop your whining everybody. This is a great opportunity for you all to meet your new charges. Some of you have some very intimidating reputations," Richard paused, throwing a sidewards glance at Addison in particular. Addie smiled back subtly. Derek saw the interaction and made quick eye contact with her. "I want the interns to feel as comfortable as possible in interacting with all of you. They need to know that you were all screw-ups like them back in the day."

"Last but not least, I would like to introduce you all to the newest member of the Seattle Grace surgical staff. With our pediatric attending on leave, I have called in a favor and have found a more than capable replacement for the next two months. Coming all the way from New York, she is a prestigious neo-natal surgeon and OB-GYN. Let's give a warm welcome to Addison Montgomery." Clapping filled the room as Addison stood up next to Richard. Before Addison could say anything further, beeping pagers filled the room.

"It's the E.R. sir. Five car accident on the highway." One of the attendings spoke up.

"Alright. Meeting over. Everyone who was paged, down to the E.R. Addie, you can meet everyone later." Addison nodded as the room began to clear out. Derek, Mark, and Preston made their way to the front.

"Nice job, champ." Mark spoke first to Addie. She shot him a look. "Sorry, nice job Dr. Montgomery." Addison nodded in approval.

"Much better. Thanks Mark."

"Your welcome. Lunch later?"

"Sure." Mark excused himself and left the room.

"Addie, I want you to meet Preston Burke. He's the head of Cardiology department."

"Nice to meet you Preston." Addison shook his hand.

"You as well. I've heard a lot about you."

"Only half of them are true, I swear. You're just going to have to figure out which half." Addison said smartly.

"I look forward to figuring out which." Preston too excused himself, leaving Addison with Derek and Bailey. Before Derek could speak up, Bailey beat him to it.

"Dr. Montgomery, I'm Miranda Bailey, senior surgical resident."

"Nice to meet you Dr. Bailey."

"Nice to meet you too. I actually was hoping to get you for a consult. 28 year old mother, 32 weeks pregnant. Came in this morning with pre-term labor contractions. We've give her drugs to stop the contractions and increase lung development, but I'm afraid they're not doing much to help her. Would you mind examining her?" Derek was shocked: he had never heard Miranda Bailey be that nice to anyone before.

"Not at all. Lead the way." Miranda began to leave the room, Addison behind her. Derek now stood alone in the room, slightly disappointed. He had wanted to talk to her, see how she was doing. His disappointment didn't last long, however, when Addison popped her head back in.

"Hey. Lunch later?"

"I'd love to."

"Good, you're buying." Addison winked and went to follow Miranda. Derek laughed, and headed out of the room himself.

**So, chapter 2 done! Hope you all liked it. Next chapter will have their first "date" and something to make Kendel VERY happy. Reviews make me write faster so review! **


	3. First Date

**So I have a rather rapid updating pace going on, one which I may or may not be able to keep up. I'm working hard at it though so keep tuning in and reviewing! **

**Kendel- this one is for you. Hope it's raunchy and sordid enough for you. If not, get off your lazy behind and write something saucy of your own so that I can read it!**

**SGH Cafeteria**

**1:30 p.m. **

"You see the game last night?" Mark asked Derek as they sat down for lunch.

"No, I missed it. Good?"

"Johnson pitched a one-hitter. It was a thing of beauty."

"I bet." Derek said absent-mindedly, his attention focused on his watch more than Mark.

"Yeah, then Ramirez lost an eye to a wild pitch." Mark said, testing how much Derek was paying attention to him.

"Good. Wait, what?" Derek said, finally paying attention.

"I knew you weren't listening to me. Where is your head been lately, man?"

"Nowhere. I'm fine, just thinking about a surgery I have to perform later."

"The patient wouldn't happen to a 5'10" red head with long legs and a fully functioning brain would it?" Derek shot Mark a 'give-it-up' look. "You're so obvious it's ridiculous."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dude, since Addison got here you're attention has been all over the map. Except when she's around. Then you're suddenly attentive and tend to stare."

"Hey! I don't stare. I just make good eye contact." Derek made a weak attempt to defend himself.

"With her chest?" Derek threw a French fry at his face. "I'm just saying."

"Well 'don't just say'. It's nothing alright. It's just nice to have her back in our lives again, don't you think?"

"Whatever you say. Look, it's your non-girlfriend now to join us for lunch. How perfect?"

"You really are an ass, you now that?" Derek said, leaning back in his chair as Addison approached with Bailey.

"I know." Mark sipped at his soda, masking a smirk. "Good afternoon ladies."

"Sloan, Shepherd." Miranda said with her usual sass.

"Dr. Bailey." Derek said with a charming smile.

"How the two of you made it through med school I will never know." Addison laughed loudly at Miranda's remark. "Addison I'll see you later for Mr. Smith's operation."

"Sure thing Miranda." Addison said through her remaining laughter. Turning to face the guys, they looked very offended. "Oh come on, that was funny."

"Do not encourage her. She picks on us enough." Derek said. "And why is she so nice to you? You started here a week ago."

"What can I say? She must just respect intelligence." Addison said as she reached for one of Derek's fries. He smacked her hand away playfully.

"Don't think you can insult and then steal my food." Derek said, feigning seriousness.

"Oh relax." She reached again successfully. "So what are you two up to? Making trouble I'm sure."

"Always." Mark said. "What have you been up to? I feel like I haven't seen you since we picked you up at the airport."

"Richard is keeping me very busy. I feel like I've consulted on every child this hospital has seen all week."

"It's what you get for being the best." Derek spoke up, a hint of pride in his tone. Addison smiled admiringly.

"So, tonight, you're not on-call right?" Mark asked.

"Nope."

"Good. We're taking you out." Derek said.

"Out? Where?" Addison asked, curiously and excited.

"Well, you've been in Seattle a week now and besides your hotel room, the hospital, and Joe's once, you haven't gotten to see the real Seattle. We are going to change that."

"Is it wrong for me to be scared?" Addison asked honestly.

"Nope. That's about right." Mark said certainly, while Derek nodded in agreement.

"So what do I wear to such an event?"

"Casual. Lots of walking. It's like New York, with less noise and less garbage." Derek answered.

"But I like the garbage." Addison said with a cheeky grin, stealing Derek's soda.

"Are you going to eat my entire lunch?" He asked accusingly.

"Maybe. Is that a problem?"

"If I said it was, would that matter?"

"Nope."

"Thought so." Derek said, pushing her his tray. As Addison went to grab a fry, her pager beeped. "Ugh. It's the E.R. I have to run. Promise me our plans tonight include dinner and I'm in."

"We'll find you something to eat." Mark spoke up.

"Fantastic. I'll see you both later." Taking Derek's drink from his hand, Addison left the cafeteria. Derek and Mark watched her go.

"Oh you are so screwed." Mark said with an obnoxious laugh.

"Shut up." Derek pulled his tray back in front of him and finished his burger.

**Nurses' Station**

**7:00 p.m.**

Addison was finishing up a chart when Derek found her. She was in her street clothes, which for her was a black skirt and very attractive top. Her heels only accentuated her legs further. They were probably big brand names, none of which Derek knew. All he did know was that they made her look extremely hot. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards her.

"Hey." Derek said, placing his bag at his feet.

"Hey!" Addison smiled at him, removing her glasses. "I'm ready to go when you guys are. Just finishing this chart up."

"Take your time. I haven't seen Mark since lunch but I told him 7."

"He's coming now, but I don't think he's ready to go." Derek turned to see what made her think that. It became pretty clear: he was in scrubs next to a patient on a gurney.

"Go ahead. Get him set up in OR 2. I'll be right there to scrub in." Mark ordered his resident.

"I'm going to make an intelligent guess and say you won't be joining us."

"Good guess buddy." Mark patted Derek on the arm. "I just got a new patient. Burn victim. He would be very unhappy if I let his face stay maimed."

"I bet."

"Have a good time though. Good luck Addison. Derek has a horrible sense of direction." Mark shouted behind him as he ran to join his patient.

"He's lying. We'll be fine. I know exactly where we are going to go. That is if you still want to. We can wait and do our little city your when Mark can come."

"No! It's fine. We're going to have a great time. I'm excited to see the city. And I have an excellent sense of direction."

"Well alright then. Shall we?" Derek extended his arm to her. Taking her bag, she accepted it and headed for the parking lot.

**Moon Fish**

**9:00 p.m.**

"Derek that was the best fish I think I've ever had." Addison said as they finished up dessert.

"I'm glad you liked it." Derek said, smiling at how much she enjoyed her dinner.

"No, Derek. I'm serious. That was amazing."

"I thought you might like it." Addison smiled back at him. The waiter came by the table and dropped off the check. Addison reached for it, but Derek snatched it away.

"Don't even think about it. I'm taking you out on the town. It's my treat." Derek insisted.

"Oh please. I practically ate your lunch today." Addison fought back.

"It's not going to work. Save your breath." Derek handed the bill back to the waiter.

"Thank you." Addison leaned back in her chair and sipped her cappuccino. "So, the night is young. What's our next stop?"

"Well, I was thinking we'd go by downtown. There's a street fair tonight."

"Okay."

"And then the big surprise is at the end." Derek teased.

"Really?" Derek nodded, signing the bill. Addison went to ask what it was. Without looking up, Derek stopped her "Don't bother asking, it's a secret." Addison raised her eyebrows at him and he just grinned back.

"Alright. Let's do it."

**Downtown Seattle**

**10:30 p.m.**

"Want anymore?" Addison stuck out her cotton candy to Derek.

"No, I'm good. Besides, you seem to be enjoying that way too much for me to take any of it."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Addison giggled. "God I haven't had cotton candy since I was a kid. As a family, we'd all go ice skating and my dad would always…" Addison's speech tapered off and Derek looked down at her.

"Always…" He tried to coax her to finish.

"Nothing, it's not important. So where are we off to now?" Addison feigned cheeriness, hoping Derek would let it go. He did.

"Well, Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides. And no tour of Seattle would be complete without a ferryboat ride. So we're on our way to the docks."

"The docks?" Derek nodded.

"And when we get to the other side?"

"We'll ride a different path back. See more of the city at night. It's no Manhattan, but it's not bad. And it's crucial for your full understanding of the beauty that it is Seattle."

"Then let's go." Addison took Derek's hands and pulled him towards the docked boat.

**Ferryboat**

**11:00 p.m. **

Derek glanced over his right shoulder to see Addison leaning against the side of the boat, completely enthralled by the city all lit-up. The wind was strong, blowing her hair in a thousand different directions.

"So, tell me I was right." Derek said subtly, breaking the peaceful silence. Not moving his body, he turned his head to make eye contact. She did the same.

"Well, it's not from a viewfinder on top of the Empire State Building, but its' not bad."

"I'll take it." Derek smiled, and casually moved closer, resting his hand next to hers on the bar, their bodies' mere inches apart. "You cold? Want my jacket?"

"Nah. I'm fine." Addison brought her hand to her hair in an attempt to keep it down. Clearly struggling, Derek reached out to help her.

"Allow me." Derek tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Thank you. It's hard, you know, with the gloves."

"It's my pleasure." Returning to face the water, a comfortable silence fell over them once again. "So, you ever going to tell me what brought you out here?"

"What do you mean? Richard called, said he needed a favor, and I owe him about a million for everything he's taught me. Besides, you two were here and I thought fifteen years was enough time to spend being mad about you ruining my favorite shoes." Derek smiled at the memory.

"Addie, I'm serious. I did my research on your career. You're practice in Manhattan is ridiculously successful, you're the go-to neonatal surgeon on the east coast, you've done more surgeries that people can only dream of than anyone in the field. Why would you put that all on the backburner for a two month long favor in the city that never stops raining?" Addison dropped her eyes from him and brought them to her fiddling hands.

"Derek…it's not that simple."

"So? We're not going anywhere. I'll take the long version." Derek inched a little closer, wanting her to feel comfortable with him.

"You're research skills could use some work. They left out the part where I came home one day after a particularly grueling six-hour surgery in which I separated the blood vessels of a twenty week preemie to improve her blood intake, only to find my fiancée, in our bed, with my best friend." The smile lingering on Derek's lips feeling instantly. He now just looked shocked. "I figured after that, a change of scenery might be nice." Addison pushed back from the railing and moved towards the boat's center. Derek followed immediately.

"Addison, I…don't know what to say. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't cheat on me." Derek smirked at her attempt to blow it off.

"If I had known, I never would have pushed the issue."

"Yeah well, what's done is done." Addison glanced up at him. The sadness and regret was evident on his face.

"It's probably good, you know? Everyone told me I should talk about, not let all of my emotions fester inside of me. And I tried to. I tried to just move past it, talk to my family and friends. But it was hard, harder than any surgery, harder than anything I've ever had to do."

"And then Richard called."

"And then Richard called. Told me about the pediatric attending on leave. Tempted me with a handsome salary and a beautiful hotel suite for a two-month vacation from the hustle and bustle of New York. For the first time in what had to have been a million offers over the years, I actually said yes. He was speechless." Addison laughed at the silence on the other end of the phone when she agreed.

"Does he know about…" Addison got what he was asking and nodded.

"He too was curious about why I finally said yes. He knew it wasn't the money and that I was born to live in Manhattan, so something had to be up." Derek just nodded in understanding. He couldn't think of anything half decent to say, so he opted for a hug. She was strong, but no one was that strong. Addison tried to fight him, but gave in. Burying her in his chest as her arms encircled his waist, she finally gave into the emotions she was keeping boxed in since arriving in Seattle, and cried.

Derek held her close, rubbing her back in slow circles to calm her breathing. As he felt the boat slow, he knew they were docking back on land.

"Addie, we're back." Derek whispered.

"I know." She said back, her words muffled by his shirt.

"You okay?"

"Me? Please I'm fine. It was just looked really warm in your jacket." Addison pulled back from his chest and dried her cheeks. Derek laughed at her stab at humor.

"Well, whatever I can do to help. But Addie, seriously, if you ever need someone to talk to in Seattle, tell them the extra-long version, I'll be here." The sincerity in Derek's face was unmistakable.

"Thank you." Addison leaned into him again, kissing him gently on the cheek, and giving him another hug. "And thank you for tonight. I enjoyed my welcome to Seattle very much."

"Good. You may be a Manhattan girl, but you'll come to love it here to."

"You think?" Addison asked skeptically, taking Derek's arm.

"I don't think Add, I just know." He patted her hand and spoke with assurance that she couldn't help but laugh.

**Another chapter in the books. I lied about this chapter being the one to make Kendel happy. That's the next one. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've written the "good" parts of next chapter, just need the bridge between that and the end of this chapter. It will be done soon, so review this one if you like!**


	4. A Long Time Coming

**So, the time has come for Kendel's happiness…and hopefully everyone's who reads this story! Keep the reviews coming: I promise to update significantly faster if a lot come! **

**Seattle Grace**

**9:00 a.m.**

"Addie!" Richard called out to Addison as she moved down the hallway towards the O.R.

"Good morning Richard. What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, now that I have you back in my hospital." Addison shot him a 'give it up look'. Her stay in Seattle was not permanent. "I know, I know. Am I not allowed to be excited about working with my favorite student again?"

"No, you are, but I know you. There's always an ulterior motive."

"Well, not this time. I was actually just checking up on you." Richard said sincerely.

"I'm good. Great actually. Derek took me on a tour of the city last night which was beautiful. Mark and I are having breakfast, well, now actually. He's late, big shocker." Addison said jokingly.

"That's nice. I'm glad their showing you the ropes. I still can't believe you three grew up together."

"Yeah, I know. It's been a long time. I've missed them." Addison remarked, sincerity in her tone.

"Speaking of…" Richard pointed behind Addison to where Mark was approaching.

"We'll talk later Add." Addison nodded.

"Dr. Webber." Mark said professionally.

"Dr. Sloan." Richard reciprocated, shaking his head as he walked away.

"What was that?" Addison asked, motioning towards the two men.

"That, Addison" Mark started as he brought an arm around her shoulder to lead her to the cafeteria "Is what we call professional courtesy."

"Is it really?" Addison questioned. Mark nodded. "Try again."

"Or, Richard caught me fooling around with a scrub nurse in the on-call room yesterday."

"There it is." Addison said, patting his stomach lightly. "God, what am I going to do with you?" Both laughed as they entered the cafeteria.

"Hey, you want to take this to go? Derek's in surgery on one of my future patients and I want to see how its' going."

"Sure. I haven't seen him in action yet so why not?" Addison played it off like it was nothing. She was actually hoping to talk to him today about what came up last night.

"You haven't seen me either!" Mark said defensively.

"Derek's current patient is your future patient, right?"

"Then I'll be there for that surgery as well. I don't favor." Addison reassured him.

"Very good." Mark paid for their muffins and coffee.

"What's the case?" Addison asked as they headed towards the O.R.

"My admit from last night. Caught in a burning building. Suffered major head trauma that I needed Derek to take care of before I could work on her face." Addison nodded. "How was that by the way? Derek Shepherd's famous tour of Seattle."

"I had no idea it was 'famous', but it was certainly good. Really great actually." Mark and Addison took seats in the front of the otherwise empty gallery. Mark smiled. While Derek wouldn't admit it, he could tell his friend was infatuated with the lovely red head next to him, and it was only a matter of time before something happened.

"Gave us a chance to really catch up, which I would like to do with you as well if you were ever free!" Addison poked him pointedly in the arm.

"What do you want from my life? I'm a busy man."

"And you can't make time for one of your oldest friends?"

"For you, I most certainly will." Mark said, oozing charm.

"I'm touched." Mark laughed and reached to eat some of her muffin. She reached across to try his at the same time.

Derek peered over his mask to see them conversing animatedly. They were laughing, semi-flirting, and Derek felt an odd sense of jealousy in his gut. It shouldn't matter: he was friends with both of them; they were friends with each other. And, hell, it was Mark. He flirted with anything with breasts. This didn't mean anything. None of it did. They were all just good friends.

"Ramirez, will you close for me?" Derek questioned the resident to his left.

"Of course, Dr. Shepherd." Stepping back from the table and allowing for his resident to take over, he looked up to the gallery. Addison and Mark were standing and brushing themselves off. They both gave him jokingly overenthusiastic thumbs up and motioned that they would meet him downstairs. He laughed and nodded.

Derek began to scrub out, and Mark entered not two minutes later.

"Nice work, man." Mark said, patting Derek on the shoulder.

"Thanks." Looking over his friend's shoulder, Derek attempted to see Addison. "Where did Addie go?"

"Relax, she's coming. A nurse needed her." Derek nodded, focusing his attention back to his scrubbing. "You know, you don't have to act all cool in front of me. You're allowed to be interested in her."

"I'm not. Not like that. We're friends Mark. I know it's a novel concept for you to be just friends with a member of the opposite sex, but it is possible."

"I'll put that snide remark aside for now and leave you two alone. I want to go talk to the patient's wife anyway." Before Derek could respond, Mark was out the door. Shaking it off, Derek dried his hands. Leaving the room himself, he began to fill out the chart of his most recent patient. Trying to remain as casual as possible, he glanced up every once and a while to make sure Addison was still there. As he tried to focus on his chart, all he could think about was how cute she looked in glasses. His daydreams were halted by her presence in front of him.

"Good work, doctor." Addison said casually, leaning against the counter next to Derek.

"Thank you." Derek replied, accompanied by his dreamiest of smiles. "I saw you two watching, well rather fighting over muffins, from the observatory deck."

"Mark doesn't know how to share."

"Yeah, he never has. He's Mark." Derek said, finishing up the chart and filing it.

"By the way, he wanted to go to Joe's tonight, hang out just the three of us."

"Sounds great."

"Great. I'll see you tonight."

"Addie, wait." Addison had begun to walk off, but Derek's hand on hers stopped her movements.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" Derek asked softly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Addison asked, glancing around to see who else was in the hallway.

"Well after everything we talked about last night, I wanted to make sure you were okay." Addison looked at Derek thoughtfully.

"Come here." Taking Derek's hand, she pulled them to the more secluded hallway with patient rooms. "It's going to take me a long time before I'm okay with what I walked in on. With what I can see in my head everyday, everytime I close my eyes to go to sleep, Everytime I see something that reminds me of either one of them." Addison took a slow, deep breath. Derek could see how this was bothering her, and it killed him. He had to let her finish though.

"But, as my mother the shrink reminds me on a consistent basis, talking about is the best thing I can do. And while ideally I would have brought it up a little later on, I'm glad you know. Assuming you can handle the responsibility of me venting to you from time to time about why men and all interior designers are scum of the earth, we will be fine." Derek looked at her quizzically. "I generalized: it helps." Derek laughed slightly.

"I can definitely do that. What are friends for?" Addison smiled widely and Derek reciprocated before his pager broke up their moment. "It's Mark. Follow-up on the patient. I better run."

"Okay." Instead of just letting him past, Addison brought her arms to embrace him in a hug. He quickly reciprocated, holding her close. She smelt extremely good, and Derek did his best not to get too caught up.

"I'll see you tonight." Addison gave Derek another brief smile before heading in the opposite direction. Derek's smile remained for much longer.

**One Week Later**

**8:00 a.m.**

"You look like hell." Mark said, extending a coffee to Derek.

"Thanks." Derek accepted and immediately began drinking it.

"No, I'm serious. What happened to you?"

"I slept in an on-call room. I was in emergency surgery until 4 a.m. Drunk driver took out a family on the interstate. They used the Jaws of Life to get the ass out of his car, only for him to die anyway. I didn't have the strength to drive home. Besides, we have this stupid meeting about the new interns, so it didn't make sense to try." Derek rapidly downed as much of the coffee as possible.

"Ouch." Mark shrugged and drank more of his own coffee. From down the hall, the men saw Addison and Burke walking and laughing.

"Okay, seriously? She's been here two weeks and has him laughing. It's been like two years with us and he doesn't even smile." Mark said, astonished. As they got closer, Addison stepped a way to check on a patient while Burke continued towards them.

"Sloan, Shepherd." Burke said casually as he picked up a chart from the nurses' station.

"What gives?" Mark asked, concerned.

"Excuse me?" Burke looked up, bewildered.

"Addison's been here two weeks and you're laughing. You don't even call us by our first names." Mark exclaimed.

"Well, I like her." Burke said simply. Placing his chart back in the holder, he eyed the two men.

"And you don't like us?" Mark said motioning to him and Derek.

"No." Derek laughed, Mark still looked pissed, and Burke was his usual unemotional self. Addison approached the three men.

"Good morning." Addison said cheerily, finishing up a chart of her own.

"Good bye. I'll see you all at the meeting. And, Addie, I'll see you for lunch." Addison nodded and looked back down. This time both men's interests were peaked. When Addie finally finished her chart, they were both staring at her oddly.

"What?" Addison asked.

"Nothing." Mark took his coffee and headed for the conference room.

"What's with him?" She questioned, watching him leave.

"I'm pretty sure he's got a crush on Burke." That spun Addison's head right around. "I'm kidding."

"I figured as much. You like hell by the way."

"I'm glad everyone is finding pleasure in pointing this out to me." Derek said snappily. Finishing off his coffee, he tossed the cup and tried to walk away. He didn't get far before Addison grabbed his arm.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I'm sorry I snapped at you. I was in surgery all night on a drunk driver who side swiped a family on the interstate."

"Did he make it?"

"Of course he did. I couldn't save the father driving the car, but he got to live." Addison could see the pain in his eyes.

"It's not your fault. It's the sacrifice we make to be doctors. We help whoever we can however we can. Unfortunately, we don't get to make the moral decisions on who deserves to live or die." Derek looked up at Addie, a small grin drawing on his lips.

"You should give that speech to the interns. It was good." He spoke up.

"I'll run it by Richard." Addison said jokingly. Heading towards the conference room, Derek followed behind. "So, you're going tonight?"

"I got the impression we don't have much of a choice."

"No, you don't." Richard came up from behind Derek and Addison to enter the room. Both spun around at the Chief's voice. Before Derek could protest, he began the meeting.

"Good morning all." Derek and Addison found room on the window sill in the back by Mark.

"As Dr. Shepherd so kindly reminded me, tonight is our Intern Formal." All eyes shot towards Derek in the back of the room. "All of our new surgical interns will be attending before their first day, as will all of our senior surgical staff. Before you moan and groan, this is non-negotiable. Aside from a natural disaster, you will all be there in proper formal attire. Look at the one upside: there's an open bar." That got a round of cheers from the crowd.

"Maybe this won't be so bad." Mark whispered to Addison and Derek.

"Alright, settle down. Now as far as tomorrow goes, they will all be reporting to me at 8:00 a.m. sharp. They will then get changed and ready for rounds with their residents. All residents have their intern lists. 8:30 a.m. I want them active. That's all, thank you." The room quickly cleared out. "Oh Addie can I see you for a minute?"

"Sure." Addison headed towards Richard while Mark and Derek headed towards the hallway.

"So you're going?" Mark asked.

"Don't think we have much of a choice. And I'm too tired to argue with him."

**Mercer Hotel**

**9:00 p.m. **

When Mark and Derek arrived, the party was already in full swing. Burke was deep in conversation with a woman who neither man recognized. Bailey was making conversation with two of the other residents. The Chief was at the bar, getting two drinks. Derek followed his path to Addison. She was wearing a dark green cocktail dress, her hair pinned up and off her face. She looked stunning.

"Dude, stop leering." Mark knocked Derek in the shoulder.

"I was not leering. She just looks very pretty."

"Okay she looks hot, and you're going to burn a whole in her back if you don't blink every once and a while." Mark headed towards the bar.

"You're an ass." Derek followed him. He was going to need some alcohol immediately. Once they secured their drinks, they made their way to Richard to make their presence known.

"Derek, Mark, thank you for joining us." Both men bit their tongues and smiles pleasantly. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to schmooze." They boys cleared a path for their boss to pass through. Before they were fully turned back around, Addison smacked them both in the arm.

"Way to be late and abandon me! Do you know how boring some of these people are without patient stories or alcohol in them? It's astonishing."

"You're the loser who showed up on time. That's your own fault." Derek said, sipping his scotch. Addison pulled back to hit him again.

"Don't even think about it. Your ring is big." Derek rubbed his arm, feigning pain.

"Grow up." Addison just laughed at him. Mark just rolled his eyes at them and changed the topic.

"So, how's the group looking?"

"I don't know. Me and Richard were just talking about that. They don't know each other so they're not really talking. It's like a middle school dance in here."

"I hate interns." Mark spoke up.

"I'd think you'd love them. Have them run your errands for you or something." Addison said, sipping her drink.

"Oh, you have no idea!" Derek chimed in. "He's just mad because he hit on one last year and got rejected."

"Alright, I'm going to go talk to people who are nice to me. That new senior resident in pediatrics is looking very nice tonight."

"Hey, I work with her! Be nice."

"I'm always nice." Mark said smugly as he walked away. Addison and Derek turned back towards each other and sipped their drinks.

"You know, I have to say, you clean up well Dr. Shepherd." Addison said, a lop-sided grin on her face.

"Thank you. You're not so bad yourself." Derek tried to remain casual, considering how unbelievably gorgeous she looked. Derek turned his head forward to scan the room. "God, it is like a school dance in here."

"Give it enough time for the alcohol to kick in. Look, half the attendings are already getting friendly." Addison motioned to the side of the room. "Is that the head of Oncology?"

"Yeah, he only wears glasses at work." Addison shot him a look. "Don't ask me why I know that." Addison laughed audibly and Derek hung his head.

**XXXXXXX**

True to her theory, the party actually kicked up once everyone relaxed and had something to drink. The interns were even being social and dancing. Mark had wrangled his resident interest into a dance. Even Burke seemed focused on his own lady friend. Derek and Addison had made a game of commenting on everyone in the room. The song changed to a slow one, and Addison decided she had enough of standing on the sides. Taking Derek's hand, she walked towards the dance floor.

"Let's go." Derek held himself back.

"Where?"

"You, me, dance floor, now."

"Addie, I don't dance."

"Yes you do. Come on." Begrudgingly, Addison pulled Derek on to the floor. Taking her into his arms, they begun to move to the music.

"See, you're a natural."

"Whatever you say." As the song continued, they stopped talking and Derek slowly increased his hold on her waist. It felt amazing so hold her so close. She rested her cheek against his as they moved. The energy between them was electric. Her perfume was overwhelming his senses. Derek could hear the song ending and so badly wanted it not to. They slowly pulled back from each other and made eye contact.

"You're too hard on yourself. You're a very good dancer." Addison smiled, taking a deep breath as they were still in close contact.

"What can I say? I'm modest." Derek smiled dreamily back at her.

"You still look tired. You should go home, get some sleep."

"I think I will. Would you like a ride?" Derek questioned, hopefully.

"Sure. My rental car is in the shop. Richard drove me here."

"Great."

**Addison's Hotel**

**11:30 p.m. **

"Well…" Derek broke the silence in the air as he pulled up in front of Addison's hotel.

"Yeah. It was a nice night." Addison said, smiling at him.

"It was. And you looked beautiful." Derek said honestly.

"Thank you."

"Want me to walk you upstairs?" Derek asked, a hopeful tone in his voice. He tried to mask it, and prayed she didn't pick up on it. Whatever he felt, she was his friend. No matter how amazing it felt to hold her while they danced tonight, he couldn't act on it.

"It's late. And I know for a fact you have an early aneurysm operation and our meet and greet with the interns."

"You are very right." Derek said.

"I always am." Derek smiled at her. Before he knew it, she had reached across the console to kiss him goodnight. "Thank you for the ride. And the dance."

"You're welcome." Addison opened the door and stepped out of the car. Waving him off, she sighed and headed through the automatic doors.

Derek wasn't even out of the parking lot when he saw it. Her shawl was lying on his floor. He could leave; give it to her at the hospital. Or he could do the gentlemanly thing and bring it to her now. Wouldn't want her to worry.

After finding an empty spot, Derek took the shawl from the car and locked it. Heading through the same doors Addison walked through not five minutes before, he went to the bank of elevators past the lobby. Pushing the up button multiple times, he paced as he waited for one to come. Moving to leave twice, an elevator opened and he decided to just go for it and hopped in.

What seemed like an eternity passed by before the elevator opened on the 22nd floor. Rounding the corner, he found Addie's room and knocked, probably overly aggressive, but he really didn't care. She came to the door quickly, and Derek took as deep a breath as possible before having to face her.

"Derek? What's up?" Addison asked, leaning against the door with her left arm so that she was standing fully in front of him. She had an understandably puzzled look on her face.

"You left this in my car." Derek extended the shawl to her.

"Oh, thank you. I don't think I even realized I left it." She accepted it.

"Well, I didn't want you to worry." He said, fidgeting with his watch.

"Thanks." Addison waited until Derek made eye contact before speaking again. "Is that all?" Derek could see a glint in her eyes. It was small, but it was definitely there. He decided to play back, test the waters.

"I don't know. Is that all?" Derek held her gaze. They stared each other down for a moment before Addison dropped the shawl to her feet and wrapped her right hand around his neck. Pulling him into her room, their lips made instant contact. Derek threw the door closed behind him before his hands came to rest on her waist.

Addison walked backwards as Derek guided her. She helped him shed his jacket and moved on to his shirts' buttons. His hands found the zipper on the back of her dress. Both kicked off their shoes as hands roamed and tongues tangled. Once his shirt was off, Addison moved on to his belt. Derek rested his hands on her neck to keep her mouth from straying far from his.

Addison ran into trouble getting it undone and pulled back from him to focus fully on it. Derek laughed and reached down to help her. Addison pulled her hair out of the updo it was in and stepped out of her dress that was now pooled on the floor. His belt successfully undone, Addison wasted no time in working on the button on the pants. Derek ran his hands through her hair and down her back.

Now freed of most of their clothing, Derek lifted a giggling Addison into his arms and headed towards the bed. Throwing her against it, Derek quickly settled on top of her. Without warning, Addison flipped them over so she was on top. Bringing her lips to his again, she kissed him fully, teasing him with her tongue. Derek was ready to play as well and flipped them back over.

Kissing her quickly on the mouth, he worked his lips down her neck to her chest, leaving a barely moist pattern in his wake. Addison couldn't speak, only moaned softly, lost in the pleasure Derek was providing. Her hands ran through his hair as he continued downwards. Shouts and extreme moaning were all that was heard the rest of the night.

**So…squee! That's all I've got as far as an A/N for this chapter. Hope you liked. **

**Review!**


	5. The Next Morning Part I

**Okay so I suck! I'll admit that off the bat. School has been impossibly busy lately so I apologize for the lack of updates. Please stick with the story though- review and I will try so much to update on a better schedule. If not, stick with it anyway and I'll make it worth your while. Hope you like this one! **

**Addison's Hotel**

**1:30 A.M.**

"That was…amazing." Addison exclaimed, still trying to catch her breath. Derek laughed softly, bringing his hand to her chin gently and directing his lips towards hers. He kissed her once quickly, and then connected their lips again for a longer, more sensual kiss. Pulling back, he smiled dreamily at her and brought his hand down to rest on her cloth covered hip.

"I've wanted to do that since the minute you walked off that plane." Derek said, moving his up and down her side.

"Really?" She asked, propping her head up on her palm to mirror Derek's position. "But you hadn't seen me in fifteen years."

"I know that. But when you walked off that plane, you screamed upper West Side New York." Addison blushed, but he continued. "In a good way. You looked intelligent and successful and feisty. All I wanted to do was pull you into the first-class lounge and give you a very thorough physical." Derek moved his body over to cover hers, kissing up and down her neck.

"Well, Dr. Shepherd that would have been quite impulsive of you." Addison giggled through his kisses and ran her fingers through his hair. Derek eventually pulled back, taking Addison with him to lay on his chest. He laced their fingers together where they rested on her hip. Derek's other hand was combing its way through her hair. Very quickly, Derek felt Addison's breathe calm and deepen: she had drifted off to sleep. Derek continued to stroke her hair, soothing himself more than her. For a while he just watched her, more content with this moment than he had been in a really long time.

**Addison's Hotel **

**6:30 A.M.**

When Derek woke up, he was immediately flooded with memories of the night before and an uncontrollable smile played across his lips. Reaching across to the other side of the bed, he was disappointed to find it empty. Sitting up slightly, he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey there." Addison came back into the room wearing his button up shirt from the night before and two coffees in hand.

"Hi." Derek smiled at her. "Is that mine?" He asked, slightly turned on by the sight of her in his clothing.

"Oh yeah." She replied sheepishly. "Do you mind?" She asked, joining him on the bed.

"Not at all." He took the coffee she extended towards him "Thank you." He sipped at the coffee slowly, still taking in her appearance. The shirt barely had half of its buttons done, but it was enough to tease him to an almost painful degree. He watched as she settled down next to him, politely crossing her legs. They seemed to go for miles before they got lost under his shirt, and he wanted nothing more than to see what was hidden from him.

"So, I think we…" Addison began to reach over Derek to place her mug down when she was suddenly flipped over and pinned to the bed. Derek wasted no time attacking her lips in a deep and passionate kiss. When he finally pulled back for air, he kept his body on hers and smirked at her flustered cheeks.

"You were saying…" Derek proposed as he trailed kissed down her jaw to her neck and chest.

"I was saying that I think we should talk about last night." Addison said, trying to sound as serious as possible; Derek's teasing was making it very hard for her to focus on anything besides the pleasure he was providing.

"Okay, so let's talk." Derek said in between kisses, but without stopping his wandering hands.

"Derek, I'm serious." Her tone convinced him enough. After dropping one last soft kiss on her lips, he moved off her.

"Sorry. I've just never seen anyone look so good in my clothes before." He smiled dreamily at her.

"Well, if you could stop your charming for a bit, we need to talk." Addison said, distancing herself from Derek's wandering hand.

"About?" Derek asked, calmly.

"For starters, we had sex last night!" Addison was getting flustered.

"We had very good sex last night."

"No! Well, yes, that part is true. But that's not the part we need to focus on."

"What do we need to focus on then?" Derek asked, enjoying playfully pushing her buttons. He grazed his lips over her knuckles before she pulled away.

"Come on Derek!" Derek held his hands up in an 'I give' fashion. "This is a problem."

"Why?" Derek asked honestly.

"Why? We've been friends for nearly two decades, haven't seen each other in fifteen years, been back together for two weeks, and had very hot sex last night. That just screams problem!" Addison had begun pacing during her rant, and was now standing at the foot of the bed.

"You know, you look very cute all worked up like this."

"Derek!" Addison exclaimed, grabbing the pillow that was propping his head up and started hitting him with it.

"Okay, okay, I'll be serious." Addison threw the pillow to her side of the bed, nodding thanks. "I just honestly don't see all of this as a problem." Before Addison could respond, a beeper rang through the hotel room. Addison took the pillow off the bed and chucked it at his head as he leapt from the bed to find his pants and the disruptive sound.

"Hey, this is not my fault. Somewhere someone's brain clearly needs me." Derek said as he started to get dressed.

"God, you're infuriating!" Addison went to the bathroom, slammed the door, and turned on the shower. Derek couldn't help but laugh as he tied his shoes. With only having his shirt left to be put on, he moved towards the bathroom and knocked lightly.

"Addie, please come out." Derek said sweetly, trying to coax her out. It wasn't working. "I need my shirt back to go to the hospital." The door began to open, but instead of Addison, Derek got a shirt to the face.

"Thank you." Shrugging it on, he heard her moving around. She popped her head out, wearing only a towel.

"Do not think that I won't track you down as soon I get to the hospital." She said sternly, one hand pointing at him and one holding her towel.

"Oh, I'm counting on it." He winked at her and moved towards the door. Addison just grunted and slammed the bathroom door again. Derek couldn't help but smile as he headed towards the elevator, very satisfied with the events of the evening before.

**There it is! Part I of the next chapter. I wanted to post before you ALL lost interest. Kindly review and I'll post the other half ASAP. And I beg you to stick with this story- I will update more!**


	6. The Next Morning Part II

**As promised, the second half of Chapter 5. I'm so glad so many people stuck with the story even though my updating time table needs a revamp! You all rock and I love getting reviews! Okay same deal- enjoy and review!**

**Nurses' Station**

**9:00 A.M. **

"Good morning Dr. Bailey." Preston said in his usual official tone.

"Dr. Burke." Miranda replied, equally as official and only barely looking up from her chart.

"How's your new batch of interns?"

"They've been on-call for ten minutes and no deaths yet, so I'm going to say well."

"I trust you'll keep it that way." Burke said before walking towards the elevator. Miranda nodded at him, and paused at the nurses' station where Addison was currently sitting, lost deeply in thought. Bailey worked on her chart and attempted to start small talk with Addison.

"Addison, I have a new admit for you. 32 year old female, suffering from Braxton hicks contractions." Bailey paused her speech when she noticed Addison hadn't even blinked since she began speaking to her. "Addison?" Bailey said louder, finally jolting her awake.

"Oh, hello Miranda. Did you need me for something?" Addison asked, sitting up right in her chair and adjusting her blouse.

"Did you not hear a word I just said?" Bailey asked incredulously.

"No, I'm sorry, it's been quite the morning. Well, night into morning, but that's not important. What can I do for you?"

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No, no. I'm fine. Fine. But if you see Dr. Shepherd, can you tell him I need to speak with him?" Addison asked, taking the chart and examining it.

"No problem." Bailey watched Addison walk away, confused as to what had the usually composed doctor so distracted.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"Dr. Bailey. Dr. Bailey!" Meredith Grey called after her resident in the hallway.

"What?" Bailey asked in her Nazi-like tone.

"Katie Bryce's parents have questions. Do you talk to them or do I ask Dr. Burke?"

"Ah, no Burke's off the case. You'll want to talk to Dr. Shepherd, the head of neurosurgery. He's right over there." Meredith nodded and looked up. She was taken aback at how unbelievably handsome he was. Making her way in his direction, she silently prayed she didn't trip or make a fool of her self.

"Excuse me, Dr. Shepherd?" Meredith asked in the crowd of doctors.

"Yes?" Derek looked up from his chart, smiling.

"Hi. I'm Meredith Grey, first year surgical intern working under Dr. Bailey. I'm on Katie Bryce's case. Her parents have some questions and Dr. Bailey told me to find you."

"Oh ok. No problem. Excuse me gentlemen." Derek walked away from the other doctors he was speaking with. Meredith followed quickly on his heels. "I'm sorry, you're name again…"

"Meredith Grey." Meredith responded quickly, and clearly nervous.

"Derek Shepherd, it's nice to meet you." Derek extended his hand, which Meredith shook. He smiled at her, and she swore she felt her knees shake.

"How's your first day going?" He asked politely, making conversation as they walked. Meredith was taken aback at how kind he was considering his status as an attending.

"So far so good."

"That's good to hear. You're working under Dr. Bailey so get ready for a wild ride." He joked with her. Derek paused at the Nurses' station to finish signing off on the chart of a different patient. Meredith stood next to him, trying her hardest not to stare.

"Do you have Katie's scans with you?" Derek asked, filing the chart. Meredith shook out of her trance and handed them to him. As he began examining them, under the light, he continued to converse with her.

"Alright Grey, what do you see?" Derek asked.

"Nothing. They look clear."

"That they do. Now, her seizures still concern me, so I want you constantly monitoring her. She's your number one priority until we can figure out what the cause of them is." Derek looked down from the scans and made eye contact with her.

"Of course." Meredith assured him, a bit lost in how green his eyes were.

"Great." Derek opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but went quiet when a flash of red caught his eye by the elevators. A very wide smile crossed his face as a naughty idea popped into his head.

"What room did you say she was in?"

"2312."

"Okay. I've got to go check on something. Can you tell the Bryce's I'll be right up?" Derek said over his shoulder as he headed for the elevator.

"Sure." Meredith shouted at his retreating figure. Grabbing the scans, she headed back to the devil child herself. Down the hall, Derek raced to catch the elevator. Sliding in just before the doors closed, he brushed himself off and turned to face the elevator's occupants. Unfortunately, Addison wasn't alone.

"Thank you. Good morning Addison." Derek said, as charming as possible.

"Dr. Shepherd." Addison said very officially, focusing her attention on the numbers lighting up signaling the floor the car had reached. Derek saw the look in her eye: she was mad at him for joking around this morning when she was trying to be serious. He was fully ready to play back. If she ignored him, he'd do the same right back.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Derek Shepherd, head of neurosurgery." Derek extended his hand to her.

"Isobel Stevens, but everyone calls me Izzie. I'm a first year intern. Just started today." Izzie responded excitedly.

"Well that's great. How's it going so far?" Derek flirted lightly with her, smiling his dreamiest of smiles.

"It's good. Nerve-wracking, but good."

"Glad to hear it. Do you have any interest in neurosurgery?" Derek looked at of the corner of his eye at Addison. His plan was working.

"I honestly don't know yet. I want to try out everything."

"I like your approach. If you ever want in on a good neuro case to test the waters, let Dr. Bailey know and I'll see what I can do."

"Wow. Thank you Dr. Shepherd."

"You're welcome Dr. Stevens." The elevator reached Addison and Izzie's desired floor. Derek stepped back to momentarily block Addison's path as she went to get off.

"What are you doing?" Addison asked, annoyed.

"Actually, Dr. Stevens, I'm going to need to borrow Dr. Montgomery for a moment. Can you get the labs for her? I'll bring her right back. I promise." Derek finished as the doors closed again. Izzie nodded at the shut doors, very confused.

"What the hell was that? You just left my intern alone in the middle of the lab on her first day?"

"Dr. Shepherd? I would think we could put the formalities aside since we have been friends for twenty years and had mind-blowingly good sex last night. Don't you agree?"

"Don't flatter yourself. It wasn't that good." Addison tried to reach around Derek to re-start the elevator, but he halted her movements.

"Oh okay. You just tell yourself that. I know what this is really about." Derek said very matter-of-factly.

"Oh do you now? Please, enlighten me oh wise one." Addison gave Derek the floor. Derek took the opportunity to slowly walk her backwards until she rested against the wall.

"You're upset with me because we didn't get to finish talking this morning, which I understand. I didn't choose to get called in." Addison was now leaning against the back wall. Derek leaned in close to her ear to whisper and tease: "Trust me- I was more than ready to spend another hour in bed with you." Derek's warm breath on her skin made Addison shiver. It didn't help that once he finished, he began to trail soft kisses down her jaw.

"And what makes you think I wasn't going to tell you last night was a mistake and end things then and there?" Addison asked, trying to sound as serious as possible. Derek's lips were making it admittedly harder. Upon her question, Derek pulled back slightly, but only enough to keep his face inches from her.

"Consider it a healthy self-confidence." Derek whispered, pulling away to re-start the elevator. Assuming his plan went accordingly, his hand would never reach that button. He was good, because it worked like a charm.

Derek wasn't even fully facing the panel before Addison had him spun around and pinned against the wall. Her mouth attacked his aggressively as her hands went to his hair. He wasted no time taking her into his arms and spinning them so she was against the wall. Hands roamed and tongues dueled. They went at it for about a minute before Addison, without warning, pulled away.

Running a hand through her hair, Addison extended the other to re-start the elevator. Derek stared in awe at her. She turned it off as fast as she had turned it on. Derek had a very satisfied smile on his face as the doors opened on her floor. She began to step off, but turned in the entryway and put a hand up to hold the doors open.

"Oh, by the way, you're taking me out for a very nice dinner tonight. We still need to finish out talk from this morning." Addison looked to see if anyone was near by. They weren't, so she impulsively grabbed at Derek's scrub top and pulled him back in for one last passionate filled kiss. Stepping back, she allowed the doors to close on a awestruck Derek. This time she got to wear the satisfied smile.

**Part two of the chapter up! I thought two in two days was the least I could do as an apology for taking so long. You guys were awesome about reviewing last time so thank you for that! And be equally good, if not more so, this time!**


	7. A Conversation Long Time Coming

**Wow guys! The reception for the last chapter was amazing so I want to say thank you off the bat! Reviews get me to update faster…statistics have proven that so good job! Hope you guys approve of this one as well—let me know!**

**Seattle Grace Cafeteria**

**1:00 P.M. **

"Dude, what happened to you last night?" Mark asked as he and Derek had lunch.

"What do you mean?" Derek shot back, an accusatory tone in his voice. Mark looked perplexed and what I freaked out, but continued.

"One minute you were standing and talking with Addie, and the next you're both gone?"

"Oh, that. Uh, we danced and then she had to be at the hospital early so I drove her back to her hotel." Derek took a long sip of his drink. Mark glanced incredulously at him.

"You just drove her back to her hotel?" Derek nodded emphatically. "That's all."

"That's all." Derek regained his composure. He had to play dumb until he knew how Addison wanted to handle whatever it is they had become.

"Alright." Mark leaned back in his chair. "I don't believe a word of that, just so you know."

"Well, that's the truth." Derek and Mark's conversation was suddenly interrupted by the slamming of a tray. Both men turned around to the intern's table.

"Who is that?" Mark questioned.

"Meredith Grey. First-year intern assigned to my Katie Bryce case." Derek turned back towards the table.

"What's got her panties in a bunch?"

"Probably Katie Bryce. Not the most pleasant of girls."

"That's why I love plastics. Only mature women can come and asked for a boob job." Derek just smirked at his overwhelming tact. "Oh here it is: Dr. Burke with the picking of the first-year intern. Any bets on who gets it?" Mark asked. Derek was a bit preoccupied with who Burke had with him. "Hello, Derek?"

"Don't know. I've only met Grey and Stevens so far. What do you think Addison is doing with him?"

"No clue. She's full of surprises." Mark said smugly. That got Derek's attention.

"Shut up. It's nothing." Both men kept their attention turned towards the interns table, curious who Burke had selected

"Hello interns. As you all know, every year, the intern with the most promise gets to scrub-in and perform a procedure on the first day. This year will be no different. Dr. O'Malley, I will see you in OR 4 at 3:00." All of the interns eyes' shot towards George, most of them incredulously. Burke looked very pleased with their reactions. It was just what he was looking for.

"Unlike previous years, he will not be the only intern to scrub in. Because of her great work this morning, Izzie Stevens, I will see you in OR 3 in an hour."

"Two interns in one day? That's never happened before." Cristina exclaimed, getting all the attendings' attention.

"Well, change can be a good thing." Addison glanced over at Derek, briefly making eye contact. "And besides, I'm from New York: we make our own rules. Dr. Stevens, I'll see you in an hour." Addison walked away, Burke tailing her. Derek and Mark sat back in their seats.

"Feisty, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Derek sat back, extremely turned on.

**Nurses' Station**

**6:30 P.M. **

The rest of the afternoon had gone smoothly for both Derek and Addison. Her C-section with Izzie had been fine and Izzie was extremely grateful for the opportunity. She saw real potential in her and was glad at the prospect of having a steady intern working under her. Derek had spent the better part of the day working to find a cure for Katie Bryce. He even took bribed the interns for help. Find the answer, scrub-in on a major neurological operation.

Having 15 extra minds on the case, Derek let his own wander towards his date with Addison. It had to be perfect, he knew that much. She was used to high-end, five star New York restaurants, and he wanted to impress her. Ever since the night before, all he could think about was pursuing something intimate with her. This dinner would make or break it: she seemed hesitant this morning. It was his job to wipe that away. After getting permission from Richard to leave early, he left Addison a note with nurse and headed home to put his plan into action.

After two hours in an emergency situation, Addison headed towards the locker room to change, and find Derek for their plans.

"Dr. Montgomery?"

"Yes?" Addison spun around at the sound of her name to find a petite nurse, whose name she couldn't place to save her life, in front of her.

"I have a note from Dr. Shepherd for you." She stuck her hand out and Addison suspiciously took the note.

"Thank you." Addison entered the locker room and headed to her locked before letting suspicion get the best of her and ripping it open. Rather anti-climactic, it was just directions and this: _Dress casual. Trust me. _Placing the note in her locker, Addison began to undress and get ready to head back to her hotel and change. She hadn't been this nervous about a first "almost-date" since her first boyfriend in 9th grade.

**Derek's House**

**7:30 P.M. **

Seeing the headlights shine through the living room, Derek made his way out front to meet Addison. He was on the porch waiting when she approached. She was wearing jeans, a green sweater that matched her eyes perfectly, and a light jacket. Her hair was blowing in the wind and she had on just enough make-up to look beautiful, not that she ever needed it.

"I see you can follow directions well. That's good."

"Well I did get through med school so I managed." Derek laughed as he stood from his seat. "So where exactly did I follow directions so well to?"

"We are in the middle of nowhere. And this is my home."

"You live here? By yourself?" Addison asked.

"Why not?" Derek looked at her.

"Isn't it lonely?"

"More like soothing. Plus the sunrise off the lake and the easy access to fishing make it all worth it. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour." Derek extended his hand to her, which she climbed the stairs to take and follow him in. He showed her both levels, ending in the kitchen.

"Wow, Derek, its beautiful."

"Thank you."

"So, why did you bring me here?" Addison asked, stealing a carrot from the salad Derek had made. He slapped her hand away, but let her through a second time.

"You said we needed to talk, so I thought what a better place to talk than the middle of nowhere?"

"So my very fancy dinner is you're home cooking?" Addison asked, leaning against the counter sipping at Derek's wine.

"Oh, Addie you underestimate me. I'm good. I had four sisters growing up. I'm very good." Derek smiled "his" smile at her, and Addison couldn't help but smile back. As Derek check on whatever was in the oven, Addison peered out the window overlooking the deck.

"Are we eating outside?"

"Of course. You haven't even seen the best part of this land. And dinner is ready." Derek brought the potatoes and vegetable outside, while Addison carried the wine behind him. He had steaks on the grill. Derek placed the food on the table and lit the candles in between the plates. The deck was extremely spacious and rested with a perfect view of the waterfront. Addison couldn't believe how beautiful it was.

"Derek! It's great out here."

"I'm glad you like it. I thought you might." Derek took their plates off the table and placed a steak on each. Setting them back down, he pulled out her chair for her and poured them each a glace of wine.

"See, we can bring the fancy ambiance to the woods."

"This is great Derek, really. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now dig in. Tell me how good I am." Addison shot him a look, to which he just sat back and watched her eat. A satisfied look washed over her face, as much as she tried to hide it.

"Wow. I've got to say I'm impressed. This is delicious." Derek just shrugged it off and tried his steak. "So you fix brains, cook gourmet food, what else aren't you telling me?" Addison asked.

"I'm just full of surprises."

**Derek's House**

**9:30 P.M. **

Addison and Derek enjoyed a very peaceful and delicious meal. Derek began to clear the table while Addison finished off the wine, recovering from a hilarious story about Mark in college that Derek told her. Three trips inside later and he sat back down, finishing his own wine.

"If you think that was good, I have a million more. There was this one time in med school…." Derek's voice trailed off as his eyes met Addison's. She looked serious, and rather solemn. "That you don't want to hear about."

"Derek, you know it's not that. It's just, we have to talk about this. We can't keep putting it off." Her voice was soft.

"I'm not putting anything off. Unlike you, I don't see what happened between us to be the end of the world." Derek said calmly.

"That's not how I see it and you know that." Addison was getting angry and not trying so hard to hide it. "It's just…God Derek! In 24 hours, everything I thought I knew about myself, and my relationship with you, was turned upside down."

"Addie…" He tried to interrupt. She stood up and put one hand in his direction.

"No! I'm not done. I was supposed to be married in a month! A month! Only to come home one day to find my fiancée in bed with one of my oldest friends in the world. You don't know what that kind of pain and betrayal feels like." Addie had tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Derek opened his mouth to speak but she just held up a hand to quiet him. He nodded, and she continued.

"Then last night, we got a little tipsy and hormonal, and fell in to bed together. And do you want to know the scariest, most confusing part of all is? What should have probably been awkward and uncomfortable this morning wasn't. It felt right. I felt safe waking up next to you. Hell, last night was the first time I slept through the night since I found them together. And that…that is the scariest, most confusing thing of all."

Addison took a deep breath and stopped pacing. Derek looked up at her sympathetically. She bared her soul to him, and now looked fragile. He had never seen this side of her before: she never let anyone see her this way. Standing up, he moved silently towards her and took her into his arms. Much to his surprise, she didn't try to fight him, keep a wall of strength around her. She sunk in to his embrace, wrapping her arms around his back and burying her face in the crook of his neck. Once he felt her breathing steady, he pulled back slightly to look into her eyes.

"I have an idea. I'll be right back." Derek kissed her forehead and headed inside. Addison nodded and took a sip of her water from the table. Derek returned almost immediately, a blanket and pillow in hand.

"Come here." He stuck out his spare hand for her to take. She did, and he walked them down the porch to the grass overlooking the water. Spreading the blanket down and placing the pillow on top, Derek lay down and rested his head on the pillow.

"Lie down." Derek motioned towards the spot next to him.

"You only brought one pillow." She countered.

"I'll be your pillow." Derek reached up and grabbed her hand, yanking her down towards him. Addison laughed lightly and positioned herself comfortably next to him, her head resting on his chest.

"Now that you have had your rant, I think it's only fair that I get to go." Addison nodded against him. "First of all, you were right about what you said. I don't know what that kind of betrayal feels like, and it makes me sick to think that you had to go through that. Any person who would cheat on you didn't deserve you in the first place, and is a moron for letting someone as special as you get away." Addison lifted her head slightly and looked up at him.

"Lie back down. I let you finish." Derek raised his eyebrows at her, showing he was serious. Addison didn't protest out of fairness, and lied back down. "Thank you. Now, second, last night was more than just alcohol and hormones, at least for me. I wasn't kidding when I said I had wanted to do that since the moment you walked off that plane. I've had a rather high school crush on you since you've been back, but didn't want to act on anything, especially with everything that's happened to you. But when we were dancing last night, it felt amazing to hold you so close. And I saw the look you gave me, it was like you felt the same way." Addison sat up again and turned towards him.

"I did feel the same way. That's what through me such a loop." Addison said. Derek sat up to be level with her.

"I know. And while I probably should, I don't regret it. At all. Yes, we have been friends for a very long time and yes we only saw each other for the first time in forever two weeks ago, it still felt right. More right than anything in my life as felt for a very long time." Derek looked at her earnestly. Now he was baring his soul to her, being more open with her than he had been with anyone before. Addison brought a hand to his face, gently caressing his cheek. Leaning in, she gently kissed him softly. He kissed her back, but only momentarily: he still had more to say. Taking her hand into his, he continued.

"Now, I know you have a lot to process. And I don't know if you came here tonight with the intention of ending things between us before they started, or if you're okay with the idea of pursuing something. I really hope it's the latter, but I will understand completely either way."

"Derek, its not that I don't want to start something with you, really. It's just, I was with Jason for five years and our wedding was supposed to be in a month. I can't jump into another relationship so soon. And I can't ask you to wait for me until I am ready."

"No, I guess you can't." Her face dropped at that. "It doesn't mean that I can't offer." Addie's head shot up. Derek smiled at her. "Addie, I just want to spend as much time with you as possible. We don't have to be a couple, or do anything of any kind that you're not ready for. Okay?"

"Okay." Addison smiled adoringly at Derek. He smiled, and laid back down where he was before, pulling her with him. Her head rested on his chest as they both looked up at the clear sky above them. Addison took her right hand from where it rested on his stomach and reached for his left one. Grasping it in hers, she rested them both on his stomach, causing Derek's smile to widen ever further.

**So, they talked. They're going to try it out. Sorry to Kendel for the lack of squee. I assure you—just give it time. They're going to start having fun real soon. I just didn't want to put aside Addie's recent past because it will come back around. Reviews are like hot cocoa on a cold day so go for it! Hope you all liked!**


	8. Time

**So, I owe this update to, what a surprise, Kendel! She yelled at me to write, and then gave me a little "help" along the way. So for her, I provide squee. It's really quite sad how little resolve Addison has in Derek's presence. Especially when he's actually being McDreamy and not McBastard like on the show. Okay, review if you want my frostbitten fingers to write more (it's really cold at my school)!**

**Seattle Grace**

**9:00 A.M. **

Derek came into work the next morning with a little extra pep in his step. The previous evening with Addison had been amazing. He had waited to show her the house and was thrilled with her reception of it. The dinner went perfectly, and when they finally talked about their "issue", they each took turns speaking, laying everything out on the table. As they lay under the stars, he confessed how he felt about her, and was rewarded with all he could ask for from her at the moment: hope. They stayed as they were, her red hair splayed over his chest, his hands running through them calmingly. After a brief nap on both their parts, Derek helped Addison up and walked her to her car. A quick good night kiss later and she was off.

As he cleaned the dishes, Derek contemplated the best way to get her to recognize just how sexually attracted they really were to each other. It was devious, but would be so worth it in the end. Addison was always harder on herself than she needed to be: it was up to him to make her realize she deserved every bit of happiness she could get.

"I know that walk." Mark said, getting in step with Derek near the nurses' station.

"Excuse me." Derek was shaken out of his reverie by Mark's appearance next to him.

"After 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of med school, during which time we shared a dorm, I'd know that walk anywhere. You got lucky last night."

"Got lucky? How old are you?" Mark just shrugged as Derek shook his head. "And, if you must know, I did not get lucky last night. But I'm thrilled that you know so much about me. Really. I enjoy having a stalker. Especially a male one." Derek said sarcastically, leaning against the counter.

"Oh bite me. You've got that goofy smile you have when you're in too good a mood. And you know what I mean by too good. Spill." Mark tried to work out the details of Derek's latest conquest, but he was lost from the conversation when Addison appeared from down the hallway with Izzie. It was time to put is plan into action.

"Later. I have to go worry about Katie Bryce, see if my bribe for the interns came through with any solutions."

"Fine then, stop grinning. You look possessed." Mark picked up his chart and walked away. Derek waited for the two women to get closer. Addison smiled casually at him, but Izzie jumped in to speak before she could.

"Hi Dr. Shepherd." Izzie said in a chipper tone, although slightly subdued after being on nearly 30 hours in a row.

"Good morning Izzie." He smiled dreamily at her, ignoring turning his body more fully towards her and away from Addison. "Have you been working on Katie's case?"

"Dr. Montgomery has been keeping me pretty busy, but Meredith and Cristina were pursuing something so hopefully it will work out."

"She has? Well, that's a shame. This is going to be quite the landmark case if we can find an answer before its too late." Addison opened her mouth, most likely to fight Derek's implication that neurosurgery was better than gynecology. Before she could, Derek spoke again. "However, I hope you're absorbing everything you're being told: Dr. Montgomery is quite the teacher." Derek and Addison made quick eye contact before Izzie's pager went off and interrupted them.

"It's Dr. Bailey." Izzie said to Addison.

"Take care of it. Meet me in the NICU when you're done." Izzie nodded and headed for the pit. When Addison turned back, Derek had his chart in hand and was walking the opposite way.

"Hey!" Addison called out to him. Derek turned around, wiping the smile off his face before turning to face her

"Yes?" Derek asked nonchalantly.

"So you'll talk to my intern but not to me?" Addison said, approaching him slowly. "When I said time, I didn't think that meant we don't talk until then."

"First of all, let's get one thing straight. I believe she talked to me first. I think she may even have a little crush on me." Addison laughed. "I'm not kidding."

"I don't know what she would see in you." Addison rebutted playfully, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Derek stepped teasingly closer.

"That would hurt, really, except I know you're just jealous."

"Jealous? Really?" Addison stepped impossibly closer.

"Yeah." Derek leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Because there the same things you find so unbelievably attractive about me." Before she could respond, he was walking away, a very satisfied grin on his face. Addison turned to watch him, reminding herself to stay strong.

**Hospital Library**

**12:00 P.M. **

"Hey, Meredith." Cristina called after her.

"Yeah?" She turned to face her.

"Look, I need to get on this surgery. Shepherd's rep is best of the best, and this is going to be huge. You've been on Katie's case from the beginning, how would you feel about working together? Gives us a 50/50 chance if we find the cure."

"Alright, you're on."

"Good." Cristina continued towards the stacks, victory in her eyes. Meredith trailed behind her. Settling in a corner, they began to talk out the case.

"So, she doesn't have anorexia, chronic renal failure or acidosis. It's not a tumor because her CT's clean. No blood on the CT, no headaches." Cristina established.

"All I know is that she's a pain in the ass."

"Thanks Mer, that's great."

"What? It's true. This is hopeless."

"This is not hopeless. Shepherd's got an unreal mortality rate. Hey, how is it working with him? He as good as they say?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Takes his work very seriously." Meredith paused, getting a little lost in thought.

"What?" Cristina asked.

"He's got these amazing blue eyes."

"Okay seriously?" Cristina asked, full of attitude. "One of the most brilliant surgeons in the country and you're paying attention to his eyes. God, what kind of love sick school girl are you?"

"Excuse me. I am not lovesick. I'm just saying he's attractive. Very attractive." Meredith said, lost in the images in her head.

"Whatever, can we focus on the 13 year old girl who could have hours to live please? I don't think a cheerleader like her would approve of dying before becoming homecoming queen."

"Fine. And she's not a cheerleader, she's a rhythmic gymnast." Meredith put up air quotes around the stupidity that was rhythmic gymnastics.

"What the hell is that?" Cristina asked, smiling.

"I don't know. She had a show last week…." Meredith stopped talking and grabbed the scans.

"What?" Cristina asked, confused as Meredith stood.

"Come on." Meredith ran off, Cristina on her heels.

**Nurses' Station **

**2:30 P.M. **

"Alright Stevens, I would like you to keep an eye on Mrs. Stern. Her condition right now requires constant supervision. I'm afraid the drugs we're giving her to prevent the contractions aren't working, and labor may come extremely quickly. Can I trust you?"

"Yes Dr. Montgomery." Izzie said with assurance, praying she could handle this.

"Any concerns or questions, do not hesitate to get me. I know this is a lot for what is technically your first day, but you can do this."

"Thank you." Addison nodded and headed for the nurses' station where Bailey was waiting.

"Stealing my interns already? They haven't even had time to screw up on their own. Don't make it easier by giving them patients to kill." Bailey said casually, looking over a chart.

"Miranda! A little optimism please. Stevens is good. I can feel it in my gut. She sort of reminds me of me when I was an intern."

"So I should be worried." Addison shot her a look and Miranda laughed. "Relax Ms. New York. We're not uptight in Seattle. We can make jokes here."

"I am not uptight." Miranda glanced up from her chart with one of her infamous Nazi stares. "Alright well I'm not that bad. I just have a lot on my plate." Addison said, letting out a deep breath. Silence overcame both women.

"Do you plan on sharing or will I have to wait here all day?"

"How long you got? My life of late has become a soap opera of epic proportions. You free for drinks tonight?" Miranda studied Addison. She was not the type to get friendly with co-workers, but there was something about Addison she liked immediately. She had a no-nonsense attitude as well, and had no trouble putting Shepherd and Sloan in their places. Anyone to do that earned her respect.

"Why not? I love a good soap opera."

"You're in for a treat then." Addison said with a smile, heading away from the nurses' station. Running past her, and almost knocking in to her, towards the elevators were Meredith and Cristina.

"Do not tackle attendings." Bailey called after them. Addison just nodded and kept walking.

"Dr. Shepherd, wait!" Derek stopped from getting on to the elevator as they caught up.

"What is it?" Derek asked, putting his blackberry away.

"Katie Bryce. She's a rhythmic gymnast." Meredith started.

"So? We have to save her life anyway." Derek responded.

"In practice last week, she fell of the beam and sprained her ankle. On the way down, she knocked her head. Minor, nothing serious. She didn't even go to the hospital." Cristina explained.

"Your point?" Derek said, pressing the button repeatedly for the elevator again.

"Her scans are clear, but what if there not? What if she ruptured an aneurysm and we just can't see it? What if it's so small that we need to know exactly where to look to see it?"

"The chances of that are about one in a million." Derek said, stepping on and letting it close. The doors shut, and a look of disappointment washed over both their faces. They started to walk away when the doors re-opened and Derek stepped out.

"Let's see if Katie's one in a million." Derek took the chart and walked quickly towards Katie's room.

**CT **

**3:00 P.M.**

"Unbelievable. There it is. Small, but its there." Derek said astonished, pointing to the screen. "Alright, pull her out of there. We need to get her into surgery immediately."

Derek headed out of the room, Cristina and Meredith on his heels.

"Great work both of you." Derek filed her chart and started to walk away.

"Dr. Shepherd?" Cristina called after him. "You said that one of us could scrub-in if we found the answer."

"I'd like to have you both, but I'm afraid it's going to be a full house." Derek looked at both of them. Over their shoulders, Addison was laughing with Mark about something. Just seeing her happy, hearing her laugh, made him smile, made him happy.

"You know what? You both did amazing work, probably saved her life if we can catch it in time. You both deserve a spot. I'll see you in the O.R. in thirty minutes." Derek smiled at them and headed towards the waiting room to talk to the Bryce's for consent.

"Well that was unexpected." Cristina spoke when he was out of range.

"I told you. He's freaking dreamy." Meredith said. Cristina nodded slightly and followed her to take Katie to pre-op.

**Joe's **

**9:00 P.M. **

"Seriously?" Miranda asked, sipping her drink.

"Yep."

"And they walked around school like that all day?"

"It was the greatest thing I had ever seen." Addison said, trying to control her laughter. "A bet is a bet."

"You're cruel. I love it."

"What can I say? They are my boys." Addison sipped her drink before continuing. "The three of us were inseparable back then. They always looked out for me you know? Like the overprotective big brothers that you hate and love at the same time. I've missed them all these years."

"I sense a 'but' coming." Miranda looked over at her pensively. Addison downed her drink and tried to avoid eye contact with her friend.

"The night of that intern-mixer thing two nights ago, Derek and I slept together." Miranda nearly spit out her drink. That was the last thing she expected to here.

"Excuse me? How? When?"

"I don't know. We had some drinks, we danced, he drove me home, and then suddenly he was standing in my doorway and I was pulling him into the room." Addison said, motioning to Joe for another drink.

"Well, that was unexpected. You're right about the soap opera."

"I'll drink to that." Addison gulped down her drink.

"So what happens now?"

"That's the hardest part. When we woke up the next morning, it felt good. It felt right. I mean he's one of my best friends, but now I find myself very sexually drawn to him. It's sort of unhealthy. I haven't stopped thinking…"

"Enough of that!" Miranda shushed her.

"I wasn't planning on going into details."

"Thank you. So, this all sounds well and good to me. What are you leaving out?" Addison looked at her deeply. This was a big secret to share, one which she didn't want getting out. Miranda didn't strike her as the gossip, and she really did need a second opinion.

"I was engaged, back in New York. We were together about five years. We'll leave it at "it didn't work" out because I'm not drunk enough to go into more details and not get emotional. It ended badly, about as bad as engagements can, and I just don't know if I deserve to jump back into another relationship so soon."

"Deserve? Why wouldn't you deserve to be happy?"

"Well, clearly I wasn't a very good fiancé or I wouldn't have gotten cheated on, right?" Miranda was taken aback by Addison's emission.

"Okay stop right there." Miranda spoke sternly and Addison's head shot up. "Number one: I don't stand for self-depreciating people, so stop. You are one of the top neonatal surgeons in the country so don't even try to get down on yourself. Number two: no one deserves to be cheated on. Especially a caring, giving person like yourself. You spend all day saving babies and for that alone you deserve to a metal. Number three: do not think it was your fault that you were cheated on. Whoever would be stupid enough to give someone like you up is just plain stupid. I mean this in the least suggestive way, but you're kind of hot. The males on our staff have no problem staring at you so keep that in mind."

"Miranda!" Addison blushed. Miranda began to talk again before Addison could say more.

"And last but not least, you deserve to be happy. Everyone does. Don't ever short change yourself into thinking less. I don't care if he cheated on you yesterday: as soon as you can see yourself happy again, go after it and take it for all its worth."

"Wow. That was a lot. You're good."

"I try. Now, how did you leave things with his highness over there?" Miranda motioned to where Derek and Mark were playing darts and drinking beers.

"Last night he made me a fantastic dinner and we talked and I told him I couldn't jump into another relationship. Sort of felt like I was cheating. And, before you start, I know I'm wrong to feel that way. It's just…hard." Miranda nodded. "And I told him I couldn't ask him to wait for me, and he made it clear that I didn't need to. That he'd wait for me if I needed him to."

"Well, he actually did something right. I didn't realize he felt so strongly about you."

"Until the other night, I don't think I did either. I mean, he's one of my best friends. But thinking back, there have been moments, even in these last two weeks. Something had changed from before. And then the other night happened, and here I find myself, utterly lost in my own life."

"You're not lost. That's what's so confusing. You know exactly what you want. You just can't be afraid to go after it." Miranda stood up and reached for her purse.

"Don't you dare! These are all on me." Addison said. Miranda looked like she was going to argue, so Addison spoke up. "I owe you psychiatric rates for your advice, so we'll call it even."

"Fair enough. I better go though. Lots of interns on very little sleep to care for."

"Thanks for listening Miranda. I really appreciate it." Addison said earnestly.

"Anytime." Addison watched her leave and continued to sip her drink. Derek and Mark were in perfect view from her seat. They were joking around, having a good time. Some things never did change. Derek always did have a particularly cute laugh. He was wearing a blue sweater: blue was by far his best color. Set of his eyes really well.

Addison sat there another few minutes, watching him. In her head, he was everything a woman could want in a man. Brain surgeon, rich, wildly attractive, a good cook, and a genuinely good person. In her heart, she was everything a woman could fall in love with. They had been friends forever, but in their two weeks back together, their entire relationship had morphed into this uncontrollable force. Derek felt it all along; she was just playing catch up. It was intense, it was scary, it was unexpected, and it was, well, could be, fantastic. She just had to take the leap.

Standing up, Addison finished her drink and walked confidently towards the men. Smiling sweetly at both, she paused at the table where their drinks were.

"Can I steal you for a second?" Addison asked Derek, interrupting both their hellos for her.

"Sure." Derek responded slowly, perplexed at her assertiveness. Addison nodded and grabbed his arm, walking them out of the bar quickly. Addison shoved Derek gently against the brick wall.

"Addison, what has gotten…" Before Derek could say anything else, Addison's mouth was covering his and her hands were in his hair. Derek was shocked, but quick to respond, bringing his hands to rest across her back. As he was really getting in to it, Addison pulled back. She had all the information she needed in that kiss.

"Very good." Addison ran a hand across his cheek to rest on his neck. Addison leaned back in for another quick kiss.

"And what does that mean?" Derek asked, not releasing his grip on her shoulders.

"Had to make sure it was really there."

"What happened to taking time or whatever? It's barely been 24 hours. Not that I'm complaining." Derek leaned in this time for another kiss.

"I thought about it, a lot. Talked to Miranda some. She assured me that I deserve to be happy, regardless of what happened in New York." Derek smiled sincerely at her.

"She's very wise that Nazi. I suppose I owe her a thank you."

"Yes you do." Addison just smiled and nodded, leaning her body against him fully as their lips met again. They stayed out there awhile, lost in each other completely.

**So, they're on. What did you expect? Time? Pshh who needs time?? They're Addek: their hot and steamy and made for each other. Especially in my little AU world. Lots of good squeeing to come—that is if you all take the time to make my day and review! Let me know if you like the direction this is headed. I have some surprises up my sleeve as I attempt to go through the whole series, more or less, from this perspective. We shall see. **

**P.S. Anyone enquiring about "Role Reversal": I haven't forgotten, more like neglected. But I am working on it so stay tuned!**


	9. Squee

**To use an old author's note: "so….squee". That's basically what you're in store for if you read this chapter. Have fun. They are rather horny these two and its making for some interesting writing. There is still a plot line I promise, but the squee demands have been too high for me not to appease my readers! Review you crazy kids!**

**Outside Joe's (Same Night)**

**10:00 P.M. **

Derek and Addison remained outside another fifteen minutes before anyone came looking for them. Their positions had changed slightly, leaving Addison pinned against the wall with Derek's strong hands roaming their way across her well-toned stomach and back. Derek took control of the kiss and Addison let him. When he broke for air, he began to slowly trail kisses down her jaw to her ear. He learned quickly that she was very sensitive right behind her ear.

"Derek!" Addison exclaimed, pushing him away from her.

"Someone's ticklish." Derek said, bringing himself closer again. Addison let him back immediately, resting her arms on her shoulders and hands meeting loosely behind his neck.

"You think?"

"That's good for me to know." Derek leaned back in, kissing her quickly before pulling back, leaving her wanting more.

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Addison leaned in to kiss him, but Derek pulled back teasingly. Addison didn't appreciate that and tightened her grip to pull him back in. Derek obliged before backing off to answer her question.

"That's a secret. You'll see soon enough."

"I will?" Addison said, rubbing his shoulders through his sweater. Derek simply nodded, and reunited their lips. They continued like this before a clearing of throat got their attention.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here." Mark said smugly, leaning against the wall of Joe's.

"Hey Mark." Addison spoke up, slightly embarrassed. He just kept smiling at them.

"So, this is where the obnoxiously good mood today came from." Addison got redder and Derek just laughed.

"Pretty much." Derek said bluntly.

"Fantastic. I'll let you two get back to that…" Mark made an "ew" face and motioned at the both of them. "I'll be inside, drinking enough to forget the mental image of my two best friends making out, and then I'll be all set." Mark headed back in and Derek turned his attention back to Addison.

"Think he's scarred for life?" Addison asked, giggling at the situation they found themselves in.

"Nah, there were some cute nurses in there for him to corrupt. He'll be fine."

"Good." Addison said with a smile.

"Hey, you want to get out of here?" Derek asked slyly.

"What did you have in mind?" Addison asked, running a hand over his face.

"I'm sure we can think of something." Derek winked at her and smiled. Addison took his hand and led him back inside. Before they reached the door, she abruptly stopped and dropped his hand. Looking down, he had a confused face on.

"Do you think we should tell people at the hospital about us?" Addison asked. Derek took a moment, thinking it over.

"We can do whatever will make you happy." Derek brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

"I kind of think for now, we should just keep it us. I'm not up for fueling the gossip mills quite yet. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Derek kissed her hand one more time before letting it go and opening the door for her. They both walked in and split up to gather their respective coats and bags. Meeting outside individually, she waited until they were a safe distance from the bar before Addison reached for his hand again. Derek smiled at her and linked his fingers through hers.

"So, where to?" Derek asked.

"My hotel is certainly closer." Addison offered up.

"Closer is good. Closer is very good." Derek said, not hiding the suggestiveness behind them. Addison playfully slapped his arm. Derek just shrugged at her.

"I'll meet you there." Addison moved to go to her car but Derek's grip on her hand pulled her back to him.

"Not so fast." Derek leaned down, reuniting their lips for one more passion filled kiss before they parted. Addison surprised him by kissing him right back full-on.

"Don't take too long." Addison winked at him and got into her car. Derek watched her drive off, and as calmly as possible, made his way over to his own car to follow her. He could just sense that it was going to be a very good night.

**Addison's Hotel**

**10:30 P.M. **

Breaking about every speed limit law in Seattle, Derek pulled up to Addison's hotel and found a spot in short-term parking. Locking his bag in the car, Derek shoved his keys in his pocket and headed for the door. He recognized the door man from the other night and waved courteously.

He quickly found Addison making small talk with the front desk. He stopped a moment to catch his breath and take in her appearance: her beautiful red hair falling elegantly to her shoulders, her pencil black skirt stopping tastefully at the knee, her impossibly shapely long legs getting lost under the skirt. Oh how badly he wanted to get under that skirt. Derek shook the inappropriate thoughts from his head long enough to make his way to her and get her behind closed doors.

Addison's friend must have informed her of his presence, because as he made his way over to her, she looked over his shoulder and smiled. Whispering something to the woman, she pushed herself off the counter and met him halfway.

"How many laws did you break?"

"Don't ask. Let's go." Derek took her hand and nearly pulled her towards the elevators. Addison laughed at his aggressiveness as he pushed the button multiple times. Finally, an elevator opened and Derek rushed to enter.

Pushing her floor, and then the button to close the door, Derek wasted no time getting her against the back wall and aggressively attacking her lips with his. He kissed her deeply, massaging his tongue against hers. His hands cradled her face softly. As he pulled back, he ran his thumb over her cheek.

"That is why I broke all the speed limits between here and Joe's." Addison was trying to get her breathing back under control, and was only able to smile in return. The elevator dinged when they had reached Addison's floor. She led the way, Derek standing behind her, his hands on her hips and his lips on her neck.

"Derek, can you not control yourself for two more minutes?"

"Nope." Derek paused only to answer her, and got back to the trail he was making up and down her neck. Addison could only laugh at his honesty, and rifled through her bag for her key. Derek's lips and hands were getting dangerously close to meeting and it was driving her insane. Prying her eyes open, she slid the key through the slot the right way and threw the door open.

Wasting no time with pleasantries, Addison dropped her bag in the corner as Derek spun her to shut the door. It closed with a thud and they both began to shed their coats. Once off, Derek reached down to her legs and pulled her into his arms. Her legs tied neatly around his waist as he moved them forward towards the bed, their lips never parting.

Upon reaching the bed, Derek delicately threw her on to the bed so he could shed his shoes, belt, and sweater. Addison, meanwhile, shed her top and waited for Derek to do the rest. Climbing on to the bed, he settled himself comfortably between her legs. Addison lifted her head off the pillows to rejoin their lips. Her nails ran up and down his bare back as Derek's found their way to the clasp on her bra. Tossing it aside, Derek moved his mouth to the soft skin of her chest.

Addison's eyes closed on instinct as she relished in the feeling of his mouth doing amazing things to her. When Addison regained some semblance of control, her fingers found their way to the waistband of his jeans. Running along the hem, she undid the button and worked to push them off his hips. His mouth pushing her against the bed made that extremely difficult so she just gave up and let her hands run through his now unruly curls.

"Feeling a little lazy are we?" Derek said with a suggestive tone.

"Well, with you doing that I can't…" Addison lost all cognitive abilities when his mouth returned to her chest. Derek smiled against her, relishing in the softness of her skin and how amazing it felt to be here, with her. He had dreamed about this, but never thought it could happen so soon. He had no idea it would feel so perfect.

Sensing she wanted more, Derek continued down her stomach until the cloth of her skirt stopped him. Reaching behind, he found the zipper and quickly pulled it down and off of her body. He also shed his own jeans while at the end of the bed. Making his way back up to her mouth, he took a moment to kiss her softly and observe her face under the light from the window.

"What's wrong?" Addison asked, concerned as to why he had stopped.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" The look of pure honesty and emotion in his eyes nearly brought tears to hers. She chose not to respond with words, but instead laced her hands around his neck and pulled him to her for a gentle kiss, conveying in it all she felt for him, all she tried to deny before she realized she had no reason to. Miranda was right: she deserved happiness. And being here, with Derek, was like happiness she had never experienced before.

Increasing the intensity of the kiss, Addison wanted nothing more to feel Derek with her in the most primal and passionate of ways. As he entered her, everything around her became a blur.

**I told you…pure, unadulterated, relatively plotless squee. For all my loyal viewers, I knew this is what you wanted so I hope I didn't let you guys down. Let me know what you thought. And I assure you, future chapters will be squee hefty, but probably more plot. This does have a storyline in my head so! P.S. How fast did I post again?? I mean woah! Haha review!**


	10. Romance and Secrets

**I am not surprised, and very happy with, the response to the last chapter filled to the brim with squee. This chapter will not disappoint on that level I hope, but there is some plot here (sorry). There are parts of this chapter that correspond very closely to episode two of season 1, with a couple of important changes! Same deal as always: read, review, and make my day.**

**Addison's Hotel **

**7:00 A.M. **

Derek woke up to his blackberry vibrating on the night stand. Reaching over and fighting the sunlight, he read the message. It was from Addison. Derek felt the empty other side of the bed and sat up a little straighter to read what was written: _Got called in two hours ago. Emergency surgery. Find me when you get to the hospital. Bring coffee and a muffin with you- I'm starving_. At the end was a little smiley face that made Derek smile. Checking his watch, he resigned himself to another fifteen minutes of sleep before getting a shower and going to work.

**On-Call Room**

**8:30 A.M. **

After settling his stuff in his office, Derek made his way, coffee and sustenance in hand, to find Addison. Three nurses and a resident later, he found her current location to be the on-call room. Opening the door slowly, he found a sleeping Addison on the bottom bunk, her glasses still on her face and a chart on her stomach.

Placing the food on the table, Derek made his way over to her as quiet as possible. Gently sitting down, he moved some hair that had fallen over her face to behind her ear. Taking the chart and glasses from her, he brought them to the table and eagerly returned to his spot next to her. She stayed asleep throughout his moving around, so Derek decided to wake her up in his own special way.

Derek lightly began tracing his fingers over her face, outlining all her features as he went. Addison shifted slightly, but made no attempt to open her eyes, forcing Derek to resort to his back-up plan. Replacing his fingers with his lips, he kissed gently around her cheeks and forehead, then back down to her jaw. Pushing her hair off her neck, he continued his trail to her favorite spot behind her ear. A few kisses their and she began to shift more and more. One final kiss on her soft lips did the trick and Derek sat back and watched her stretch her way to wakefulness.

"Good morning gorgeous."

"Hi." Addison said with a yawn. "I must say, that was a very pleasant way to wake up."

"I try." Derek said with a grin. "And I come bearing gifts. The coffee and muffin you requested from the best bakery in Seattle."

"You are fantastic." Addison reached up to the area of Derek's face. She couldn't quite fully open her eyes, so he filled in the gap and leaned in to kiss her. Pulling back, Derek let his hand play with the hem of her scrubs as she rubbed his arm.

"Now, and this is just curiosity on my part, but will this be as close as I get to actually waking up next to you? Are my company and services just required at night?" Derek enquired. Addison couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry. I got paged at around 5:30. Woman in a car accident had a pre-term placental abruption. I was going to wake you to tell you but you sleep very soundly if you didn't know. I didn't have the heart to wake you so I decided to text my wishes when I knew you would be up. Or at least should be up. From what Miranda tells me, you and Mark are late for everything." Addison teased.

"How very thoughtful of you." Derek said sarcastically, but with a smile so that she wouldn't feel put off.

"I have an idea. Come here." Addison patted the spot next to her on the bed. Derek shrugged off his lab coat and happily did as he was told. Addison moved one of the pillows propping up her head in his direction for him to lie on and pulled his top arm over her hip. Derek laughed at her forwardness as she cuddled into his body. "Now shut your eyes and when you wake up, I will be here as you wish." Derek kissed the top of her head and shut his eyes, very content to be back in bed with her. He was nearly asleep when a beeper broke up the silence in the room.

"Alright, now whose fault is this one?" Addie said as Derek reached over her body for his pager.

"Very funny. Damn, it's the E.R. 911. I have to go."

"Fine, whatever, leave me here in bed all alone. See if I care." Addison rolled over to face the wall, a smile on her face. Derek adjusted his coat and reached for her waist, pulling her back to face him. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her firmly and passionately.

"Call it even?" Derek asked, and Addison nodded, catching her breath. Derek smiled and went to stand, but she held on to his hand.

"Find me later for a friendly lunch. We can make plans for a not-so-friendly dinner, and if you play your cards right, we'll work on the whole 'waking up together' thing." Addison teased before shutting her eyes again. An uncontrollable grin spread across Derek's face and he kissed her one more time before heading out of the room.

**Nurses' Station**

**10:30 A.M. **

"Good morning Miranda." Addison strode confidently through the hallway to where Miranda stood speaking to a nurse.

"Someone's in a good mood. I'm going to make a safe bet and say you took my advice." Addison nodded excitedly. "I'm glad. Truly I am. But if you share one detail about what occurred after I left you will know what the wrath of the Nazi feels like."

"Duly noted."

"Thank you." Miranda filed her chart and began to move away.

"Wait Miranda." Bailey turned back. Addison walked to her, wanting to keep this particular statement quiet. "I know you're not the gossiping type, but I just wanted to tell you that we don't want to tell people yet so…"

"Say no more. You're right: I'm not the gossiping type. And even so, it's your secret to tell, not mine."

"Thank you." Miranda nodded, but her attention became lost over Addison's shoulder.

"Grey!" Bailey called out in her authoritative tone, heading back past Addie to her intern.

"Yes, Dr. Bailey?"

"What is it that you are carrying around?"

"Oh, um, its nothing. Evidence to Dr. Shepherd's rape case." Addison's interest peaked at Derek's name. That had to have been what called him away this morning.

"What sort of evidence is kept in a cooler?" Bailey enquired.

"A penis." Both women's eyes widened significantly.

"What?" They exclaimed in unison. Meredith was startled, but thought it wise to explain herself.

"This woman was brought in this morning. She was found in the park severely beaten. A man tried to rape her, but she fought him off and bit off the tip of his penis in the process." Both women's' faces contorted at the thought.

"Yeah. You should've heard the groans that came from every guy in the O.R. when they figured out what it was."

"I bet." Addison spoke up. Meredith gave her a funny look and Addison realized they hadn't actually met yet. "I'm Addison Montgomery by the way. Head of neo-natal." Addison extended her hand to Meredith.

"Meredith Grey, first-year intern. I just read your article on the conjoined twins from California. It was amazing."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Meredith and Miranda's pagers went off simultaneously.

"It's the pit. Let's go Grey. Addison, I'll see you later." Addison nodded and watched them run off.

"Grey!" Addison called after her. Meredith stopped in her tracks and turned back expectantly.

"You forgot your penis." Addison motioned to the container on the counter, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"Thanks." Meredith ran back and grabbed it, smiling sheepishly at Addison as she went.

**Addison's Office**

**1:00 P.M. **

Addison caught up on paperwork while she waited for Derek to have lunch. She had received a text minutes after he left the on-call room this morning that he'd meet her in his office at around 12:30. Half an hour later, Addison was starving and decided to find him.

Her first guess was fruitless: the board was clear. Her next guess was poking around the neurological wing. Again, nothing. Considering her options, Addison remembered Meredith mentioning something about the patient from the morning. If she was critical enough, she would still be in post-op instead of on the floor. Heading that direction, Addison stopped to check her hair in the mirror. She found herself excited all day about seeing Derek for lunch when she had barely been away from him four hours. It was the exciting beginning part of a relationship, a feeling Addison hadn't had in a significantly long time.

After speaking to one of the nurses, Addison found out what room Derek's patient was in and went to find him. Approaching slowly, she saw him checking her vitals and recording them in her chart. She continued to stand there quietly, watching him finish up and sit down in the chair by her bed with charts of other patients. He looked peaceful sitting in the quiet, but every time he looked up at her bruised face, anger was apparent in his eyes.

Addison got so lost watching him that she almost didn't hear him say her name.

"Addie?" Derek called out to her softly. "Addie?" Addison snapped out of her reverie to see him looking at her.

"Hi." Addison smiled at him. "Sorry about that. You were working so intently I didn't want to interrupt."

"You're never interrupting." Derek said quietly as he made his way over to her. Taking a once over of the hallway, he leaned in to kiss her cheek. When he pulled away, Addison could see he was emotional.

"Are you okay?" Addison asked, taking his hand in hers as she walked them a bit further into the room.

"Not really. My patient was an attempted rape victim. She's 5'2", 100 pounds and she got attacked in the park. No sign of sexual trauma, which means she fought him off like hell."

"So I hear. I met Dr. Grey. She was carrying around his family jewels."

"Yeah, she's a fighter. But the bastard really worked her over. She just moved to Seattle, no family here: she's got no one."

"That's not true. She's got you." Derek's wandering eyes found hers, and all he wanted to do was hold her and kiss her and keep her safe. For now, he resolved to rubbing his thumb over her knuckles and smiling at her whole-heartedly.

"So what brings you down to post-op? I didn't think you were in surgery until this afternoon." Derek asked. Addison just laughed lightly and pulled their joined hands to his eyes so he could read his watch. The light bulb in his head went off as he realized what time it was.

"Oh Addie I'm sorry. I got caught up with her and lost track of time."

"Don't worry honey. It's fine."

"No, its not."

"Yes it is. It comes with the territory of dating a doctor. You get stood up sometimes." Addison bumped his arm playfully.

"I'll make it up to you. I have big dinner plans for us." Derek winked at her. "What time are you off?"

"7."

"Good. Now, I have to ask: how do you feel about a sleepover?"

"Excuse me?" Addison looked at Derek, very confused.

"I have tomorrow off, as do you. So, I'm thinking, you go back to your hotel, grab some of your stuff, and I'll pick you up after I finish my last surgery at 8."

"I haven't had a sleepover since I was in 8th grade, Derek."

"Oh, I assure you. This will be nothing like that." Addison raised her eyebrows at Derek, to which he just smiled seductively.

"Now what should I bring to this sleepover?" Addison asked playfully.

"Dinner is going to be at this fantastic fish restaurant I know on the water, so casual is fine, and after that, well, you won't need much clothing." Derek leaned in to kiss her before she could mount a wise response.

"Very confident, aren't we?" Addison joked.

"Well…" Before Derek could say anything else, Alison's monitors began to beep erratically. Both doctors' eyes shot towards the patient. Derek leapt into action, checking her pupils with his mini-flashlight.

"What can I do?" Addison asked, moving to the other side of the bed and hitting the blue code button.

"Her left pupil is sluggish. She's going to need a craniotomy. Call up to the surgical floor and get me an O.R. immediately. I've got to relieve the pressure or she's going to fall into a coma." Addison nodded and headed for the phone on the wall of the room. Derek disconnected her ventilator and one of the nurses who entered the room began to bag her.

"Let's go!" Derek ordered the code team. Grabbing her chart, he followed them out.

"Derek. You're in O.R. 4."

"Thanks Addie. I'll see you tonight. Derek touched her hand and left the room. Addison watched him go, silently praying for his patient and also very excited about tonight's plans.

**Addison's Hotel**

**8:15 P.M. **

Upon Derek's arrival to the hotel, he had the concierge call her room. Addison finished getting herself ready and headed to the lobby. She expected to see Derek waiting for her and looked around.

"Dr. Montgomery?" Thomas, the doorman, called out to her. Addison turned to face him. "A Dr. Shepherd is outside for you." Thomas pointed towards the parking lot. Addison grinned and headed towards him.

"Thank you Thomas." He held the door for her and she passed through it into the cool Seattle evening. Finding Derek took no time at all. He was stopped in front, leaning casually against his car. She hadn't seen what he wore to work that morning because he was already in scrubs, but she definitely approved of his khaki pants, sweater, and sport jacket.

Upon seeing her, he pushed himself off the car and headed towards her. Looking her up and down, he took in her appearance. She took his advice of casual well and was wearing black slacks and a crème colored top. For her, that was practically pajamas. As always, her hair and make-up were impeccable, and all he wanted to do was kiss her until he couldn't breathe.

When they finally met, Derek wasted no time fulfilling his desire. With one hand on her waist and the other resting on her neck, he leaned in to her. The kiss was soft at first, but got more and more intense each time their lips met. Reluctantly pulling back, Derek ran his thumb over her cheek and now slightly swollen lips.

"And hello to you to." Addison kidded with him.

"You have no idea what seeing you at work and not being able to touch you is like." Derek said honestly.

"Oh I have some idea." Addison said, playing with his sports coat and smiling.

"You ready to get out of here?" Addison nodded eagerly and took Derek's extended hand. Walking around to the passenger side of the car, he opened her door for her and helped her step in. "I must say, I'm glad you followed my suggestion and didn't bring anything to wear tonight."

"I figured I'd just wear your clothes." Derek smiled and took a moment to picture how hot she would look in his clothing and how much fun he would have slipping under it on her slender frame.

"You're an evil woman you know that?"

"I know." Addison winked at him as Derek shut the door. He made his way to the drivers' side and started to drive.

"How's Allison?"

"She's good. Well, better. Her craniotomy went well. She woke up shortly before I left." Derek reached out and took her hand. "The rapist came in seeking medical attention. Dr. Bailey fixed him, minus a good portion of his anatomy. The cops came by and put him under arrest." Addison could see the pain etched on Derek's face.

"Derek, are you okay?" Addison asked, casually playing with his fingers. He sighed deeply. When they reached the stoplight, he turned to look at her.

"I'm fine." Addison shot him a 'give it up look'. "It's just, I spent the whole day watching her, making sure she was stable, keeping her company. And when I'd look at her, I couldn't help but think how helpless she was. I mean, women get targeted all the time. And I have a lot of important women in my life. If something like that happened to any of them, I'd never forgive myself." They held eye contact until the light changed. Addison felt tears welling up at how scared he was. She brought her other hand to sandwich his and thought of what to say to help him.

"Derek, you can't think like that. What happened to her was tragic, but there's not much anyone can do. The world is filled with sick people. And you do have a big family, which you love very much. While you can't watch over them every minute of every day, what matters is when it comes down to it, if god forbid something did happen, you'd be there, sitting at their bedside, day in and day out until they were better. And sometimes, that's all you can do."

Derek pulled up to the restaurant and put the car in park. Pausing for a moment, he undid his seatbelt and stepped out of the car. Addison was confused, but followed suit. He opened the door for her and as soon as she was upright, he enveloped her in a hug, burying his face in her hair. Addison was surprised, but wasted no time hugging him back. She could feel his breathing calm as they held each other. When they finally did separate, Derek kept his hands on her waist, holding her close. For a while, they just looked at each other.

"Thank you Addie."

"For what?" Addison asked, confused.

"For knowing exactly what to say." Derek said whole-heartedly. Addison kissed him softly, moving her hands down to where his were on his waist. Taking them into her own, she walked him forwards towards the restaurant.

"Let's go. I'm hungry, and very excited to get to dessert." Derek laughed and let her lead him for a bit. When they reached the hostess, he spun her gently and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Resting them on her stomach, he kissed her neck a few times before releasing her so they could find their table.

**Derek's House**

**10:30 P.M. **

"I'm never eating again." Addison exclaimed as she slowly got out of the car. Derek just laughed at her facial expressions.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Told you it was the best."

"No, that was like the best seafood I've ever had. We're going back there a lot." Addison said sternly, pointing at him.

"Fine by me." Derek locked his car and headed up the stairs to meet Addison at the front door. Unlocking it, he flipped on a few lights and through his coat and bag on a chair. He stuck out his hand for hers, but she just shook her head. Taking both his coat and her own, she went to the closet by the door to hang them up.

"God, you're such a man." Addison said, shutting the door.

"And you're such a woman. I've lived here three years. The only time that closet gets used is when my mother comes to visit." Addison laughed.

"It scares me that you're telling the truth." Addison shut the door and started looking at the art on the wall.

"Coffee or wine?" Derek asked, rummaging through his fridge.

"Coffee sounds good. I'm still freezing from the ferryboat." Addison called back to him. Derek set the coffee maker and peered into the living room to see what she was up to.

"Don't ask about the furniture. Nancy was out here on a consult when I moved in and insisted on hiring me a decorator."

"I was going to say, this is too good to have be done by just you." Addison joked.

"I feel like I should be insulted by that remark." He said, meeting her in the living room now that the coffee was all set. Addison turned to face him, a smile on her face.

"This coming from the man who doesn't even hang up his own coat." Addison moved closer to him, her arms crossed in front of her.

"What can I say? I'm a complex fellow." Derek inched closer, his gaze fixed on her lips. He moved his hands to her wrists and gently separated them.

"Apparently." Addison whispered, shivering both from the cold and how close he was getting to her.

"You're still that cold?" Derek asked, rubbing her arms softly. He had a feeling she wasn't shivering from the weather, but was savoring the knowledge that he was the one making her this way.

"Not exactly." Addison leaned up, snaking an arm around his neck, to pull his lips to hers. She kissed him quick and intense, massaging her tongue against his. Derek was surprised at her forwardness, but had no problem with it whatsoever. Carefully, he walked her backwards towards his couch, being careful to not have either of them trip on their now shed shoes. Addison could feel the back of the couch against her legs when a pager rang out through the room. Derek pulled back breathlessly, leaning his forehead against hers.

"So close." He kidded with her as he sat down on the couch. Addison laughed as she rummaged through her bag for the noise. Addison glanced at the screen.

"I have to take this. Can I borrow your phone?"

"Of course. In the kitchen." Derek said glancing at her behind him. Addison leaned over the couch and kissed him upside down. He watched her head to the porch and sit in his chair. Looking around, his eyes landed on the fireplace. A little light bulb went off in his head, and he leapt from the couch to get a surprise ready for her.

About fifteen minutes later, Addison came back into the house, sliding the door closed behind her.

"Sorry that took so long. Izzie was looking after my triplets from…." Addison stopped talking when she finally looked up from putting her phone away. Derek had moved the table out of the living room and laid a blanket down on the floor with some pillows. There was a fire cooking behind him and two coffees on the ledge above. He just looked at her, smiling dreamily at her.

"Surprise." Addison smiled back and went to join him on the blanket.

"You're incredible you know that?" Addison said, sitting between his legs, her own resting on top of his thighs.

"I try." Derek winked at her. "Let me get your coffee for you." Derek went to move out from under his legs, but she tightened them around his waist, not allowing him to move.

"I don't want coffee. I just want you." Addison rubbed his arms through his sweater as their eyes met. He could see the intensity and passion she was feeling through her gaze. Gently, he kissed her. They separated briefly and Derek reached out for her waist to pull her as close as possible. Bringing one hand to her chin, he leaned in again, kissing her slow, but much deeper. The fire crackled loudly behind them, but neither noticed. The passion between them was palpable, and as Derek shifted his weight and tightened his hold, he leaned her back against the pillows, never once breaking the connection they had.

**This weekend I was an updating machine. I wish I could promise to keep up the pace, but I don't know. Review, and I'll work extra hard to do so. This chapter had less squee (sorry), but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless. Next chapter I've already got hefty squee planned so get excited. It will probably jump forward in time about a month and they're pretty much going to be doing it everywhere in the hospital. Apparently, they find a secret romance to be a big turn on. Who knew? Review!**


	11. OnCall Rooms and Flirty Patients

**I've decided that when its cold and snowing outside, I'll write instead of going to class. Plus, I owe a lot of people a lot of squee. **

**You know the deal…review, or I hunt you down with a fire spear. Don't think I'm joking. I'm not. **

**Four Weeks Later**

**Seattle Grace **

**9:30 A.M. **

"Get a non-contrast head C.T. and page me with the results." Derek told O'Malley.

"Yes Dr. Shepherd." Derek nodded and headed for his office. Checking his watch, he saw he had about fifteen minutes before Addison's surgery would be over. He was hoping to intercept her afterwards, proposition her for an intimate dinner. It had been four days since he had seen her outside the walls of the hospital. His body ached for her, but more than that, he just missed spending time with her.

Plopping down at his desk, he rubbed his eyes in an effort to stay awake. Aside from just missing spending time with her, he found himself having a very difficult time sleeping without her next to him. Staring at his watch, he resolved to wait no longer and jumped from his chair towards the elevators. The one that arrived left a smile on Derek's face: inside were both Addison and Mark.

"Good morning." Derek spoke first, looking back and forth between the two of them. Mark saw their eyes lock and hold, and just rolled his eyes.

"Oh get a room will you?" Mark moved out of the elevator, shoving Derek on the way out. "Addie I'll see you for lunch."

"Yep." Addison said as he left and Derek got on. She looked him up and down and smiled as he pressed the button to the basement before moving close to her.

"Hi." Derek said softly, smiling at her.

"Hi." Addison responded, reaching out to play with the collar of his coat. "Haven't seen you around lately."

"And whose fault would that be?" Derek asked raising his eyebrows at her.

"I believe I offered to have you come by after work since you had a late surgery and wouldn't want to drive all the way home." Addison pulled him slightly closer, making occasional eye contact and fighting a grin.

"Yes, yes you did. Unfortunately Mr. Johnson's frontal lobe did not want me leaving the hospital." Derek replied, trying to keep himself under control. She was clearly going somewhere with this.

"That's too bad. Because I really, really wanted to see you." Addison emphasized the last sentence for effect. She moved her hands inside his jacket to rest on his chest, occasionally moving them up to his shoulders, and back down again. Her eyes had pure lust in them at this point and Derek wanted nothing more than to take her against the wall, right there, right now. But he could see in hers eyes: she wasn't going to make it easy on him.

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Derek leaned in, hoping to steal a kiss. He was craving contact of some sort. After all, it had been 4 days and a lot of skirts and high heels since he had really spent time with her. Addison wasn't giving it up that easy, keeping her hands firm on his chest as a way to maintain slight distance.

"I don't know. I was very lonely. My hotel room kind of sucks when I don't have anyone to share it with." Addison reached around Derek. Now that they had hit the basement, she actually did have a patient to check on and needed to be upstairs rather than down.

"Well when I came looking for you just now, I was going to proposition you for an intimate dinner tonight. I'll spring for lunch too if it will help my effort to make up for my grave error in judgment last night." Derek offered.

"Mark asked me to lunch. It's sort of a shame considering I don't see myself being very hungry. I probably won't even eat; just sit there and enjoy his company." Addison smirked at him. She could see in his face that her point got across exactly how she intended it to. "But I guess dinner could be nice. What's 10 more hours until we have time to spend together really?" Stepping off the elevator, Addison left a very stunned Derek in her wake.

Wasting no time, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty on call room before anyone could see them. Roughly, he pinned her against the wall, attacking her mouth with his. After quickly removing his coat and shedding hers for her, he took her into his arms and hoisted her against his body. He pulled away only long enough to lock the door. It was barely closed before her hands were on his face to bring his lips back to hers. He laughed at her forwardness and was eager to please.

Pinning her against the wall with his hips, he moved his hands to her blouse to get it opened. Unbuttoning it seemed like a lot of work, so he went with the moment and ripped it open. Buttons popped everywhere, and he could sense Addison raising a stink any minute. To combat that, he immediately brought his mouth to the smooth, silky skin of her chest and kissed everywhere he could. Too caught up in what he was doing to her to argue, she just threaded her hands through his thick hair and let him please her.

Wanting the attention back on her lips, she lightly tugged on his hair to get his attention. Getting the message, he kissed his way back up her chest, over her neck and back to her mouth. He nipped lightly at her lips to tease her, but then unexpectedly thrust his tongue into her mouth and massaged it against hers. He elicited a muffled moan of delight and smiled to himself. Keeping his hips firm against hers, he reached around her back to find the clasp of her bra. Before he could successfully undo it, a pager rang out. Addison pulled her lips back from his to catch her breath and rested her forehead against his.

"Shouldn't you get that?" Addison asked between breaths.

"No. It's just O'Malley with test results. It can definitely wait." Addison just nodded as Derek rejoined their lips and started up another round of aggressive making out. He reached around to her back again to finish what he started, but was again interrupted, this time by her pager.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Derek exclaimed as Addison laughed and attempted to wiggle out of his hold.

"Babe, do you mind?" Addison motioned to his arms holding her. He shook his head yes and leaned into kiss her once again. "Honey!" She exclaimed through his kisses. "Let me at least see who paged me. It may not be important." Derek pouted, but finally conceded. Addison rummaged through her coat pocket for her pager. Derek couldn't keep his hands off her any longer and snaked his hands around her waist and began to kiss up and down her neck.

"This is Dr. Montgomery. I was just paged." Addison began to speak into the phone on the wall. With her back to him, he had much better access to her bra. Running his fingers up and down her back to tease, he slowly undid it, one clasp at a time. Addison gasped but tried to focus on her phone call. "I'm on a consult right now on the neurological floor." He smiled at that and brought his hands back around to her stomach and slowly moved them upwards. Addison was now having a hell of a time focusing. "Yeah just have Dr. Davis look in on her for now and I'll be up as soon as I'm finished here."

Placing the phone in to its holder on the wall, Addison leaned back into Derek and let him continue doing whatever he wanted to her. Her breath was getting shallower and shallower as she got more and more turned on.

"Do you have to go?" Derek asked, knowing what the answer would be. He smiled to himself at her inability to answer. Addison had enough teasing and turned in his arms to pin him against the wall. She leaned in to kiss him but pulled back before their lips met to take off his scrub top. This time when she leaned in, she kissed him, rough and passionate. He reached around to her back and unzipped her skirt. Running his hands across her backside, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed to make up for lost time.

**Neurological Floor**

**10:30 A.M.**

With a satisfied grin on his face and happy thoughts in his mind, Derek went to answer his page. George and he took care of reassuring Mr. Johnson that everything went well in the surgery and his scans were all good. On their way out, Derek received another page, this one to the E.R.

"Let's go O'Malley!" Derek and George caught the open elevator and headed for the pit. On arrival, they saw Dr. Bailey managing the chaos. There was an accident near a local coffee shop and Seattle Grace was the primary recipient of the incoming patients.

"Shepherd, curtain area 4." Nodding, he headed to assess his newest patient who was currently being attended to by Meredith.

"Dr. Grey, what do we got?"

"Emily Reese, thirty three year old patron of the coffee shop the car went through. She suffered a concussion at the scene and has a nasty head laceration to show for it. Complains of blurred vision and chest pains."

"Alright, Mrs. Reese, we're going to take very good care of you. O'Malley, lets get our patient for a CT and then I want her stitches done."

"Yes Dr. Shepherd." Derek left the room to continue helping out. Before he could tend to any more patients, his pager went off. He smiled when he saw code for maternity. Skipping stairs to get their as fast as possible, Derek reached the floor in record time.

"Wow, Dr. Shepherd that was fast. I just paged you." Izzie spoke from behind the nurses' station.

"I was nearby." Derek said trying not to pant obviously.

"Oh, ok." Izzie looked at him questioningly. "Dr. Montgomery needs you in room 430."

"Lead the way." Derek followed Izzie down the hall. When they reached the room, he could see Addison perched on the bed, talking animatedly with her patient. She was being casual, clearly trying to keep her patient calm and her mind off whatever Derek was needed for: problems with the brain were rarely taken lightly by unknowing patients. He waited for the laughter to calm down before making his presence known.

"Dr. Shepherd." Addison addressed him formally, standing from the bed and grabbing her chart.

"Dr. Montgomery. What've we got?" Derek responded, fighting a smile.

"Izzie, would you like to present?" Addison offered.

"Sure. Lisa Davidson, 29 year old female 34 weeks pregnant. Upon admission, a spinal defect was discovered. Further ultrasounds reveal a small tumor on L3 and L4." Derek nodded, and skimmed through her chart.

"Alright Lisa, do you mind if I take a look?" Derek asked softly, giving her his best smile.

"No, not at all." Lisa smiled, looking very smitten with Derek's good looks. Addison and Izzie exchanged eye rolls. Female patients often found themselves falling over his charm and handsomeness.

"Is that too cold?" Derek asked as he placed the gel on the stomach.

"It's fine." Lisa said casually. Derek smiled quickly before glancing at the screen. Moving the wand around, he made eye contact with Addison. He intended it to be quick, but the eyebrow raise she gave him held his attention. Apparently she didn't approve of people falling over her boyfriend, or him smiling back. He coughed and wiped the smile from of his face.

"Alright, let's see." Derek decided to be as professional as possible. "There it is. Okay Lisa, from what I can see, this should be easy to resolve. Now I can't say that with certainty until the birth and I have her on the table, but I'm confident that this can be resolved." Lisa let out a deep breath and nodded, trying to fight back tears.

"Thank you Dr. Shepherd."

"You're welcome." Derek patted her shoulder before handing Izzie the chart, ordering a couple extra tests, and excusing himself from the room with Addison.

"Would you like me in on delivery with you?" Derek offered as they reached the nurses' station.

"Its going to be a late surgery tonight. I'm seeing fetal distress on the monitor that bothers me so I want to get that baby out as soon as possible. Do you mind hanging around?"

"Well I'll be with you so not at all." Derek said charmingly. Addison looked up from her chart and smiled.

"We'll have to eat late."

"I'm sure I can find someone to have lunch with me and hold off my hunger until we're free."

"You know, I'm sure Lisa would have lunch with you. She's pretty and definitely thought you were hot." Addison grabbed a new chart from its holder and began to flip through it. Derek moved a little closer so he could talk without being overheard.

"Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?" He asked playfully.

"No, not at all. Just stating a fact. She was totally checking you out." She replied.

"She was not. She was just being attentive to her doctor." Derek offered.

"Oh please. And you totally loved it. Izzie and I could both see it."

"You are so totally jealous that your patient flirted with me." Derek poked at her ribs teasingly. Addison did her best to shrug him off.

"Excuse me. I do not need to be jealous of my patient, thank you."

"Whatever you say." Derek said, starting to move past her. He abruptly stopped next to her and placed a hand on her arm and whispered into her ear.

"But, for the record, the only person I care about flirting with me…the only person I care if they find me attractive…the only person I care about wanting to spend time with me, is you." Derek released her arm and continued past her. He would have gladly kissed her to prove his point, but there were nurses and interns surrounding them. Addison turned to watch him go, overwhelmingly happy with how sincere he was.

**Okay so they didn't do it EVERYWHERE yet, however I wanted to end with this moment. I think its shows how much has progressed between them in the last month. Those of you following the chronology of this story know that her two month contract is almost up…**

**So yeah review! Tell me what you think. I wasn't kidding about the fiery spear.**


	12. Stay or Go

**So you all responded very well to my threat of fire spears. Continue the good work with reviewing. **

**Here is the next chapter. Took me awhile because this weekend was the best of my life! Anyone out there heard of THON? Well if you have, you'll know why!**

**Hope you enjoy! And, again, review. The spears are on the cooler for now because I trust you all.**

**Two Weeks Later**

**Seattle Grace **

**9:30 A.M. **

Derek walked down the hall, three coffees in hand and a huge grin on his face. After surprising Addison with a fancy dinner and a night of dancing, she had spent the rest of the night showing him her gratitude over and over again.

"Is there any hope of you not spending all day grinning like an idiot?" Mark asked, abruptly shaking Derek out of his reverie.

"You're just jealous." Derek argued, setting the coffees down. Mark just scoffed. "And to answer you're first question, probably not."

"Fantastic. I love this side of you." Mark said sarcastically, sipping his coffee and spitting it out. "Dude, what did you put in this?" Derek took it from him and tasted it.

"This isn't yours moron. Can you not read? It says Addison's name right there." Derek pointed to the side of the cup.

"Shut up." Mark lifted his coffee from the holder and tasted it. "Black. Much better. What does she put in that? It's awful."

"Nonfat milk, two sugars." Derek said nonchalantly, signing the chart his nurse brought him.

"Well aren't you just the doting boyfriend. Knowing her coffee order and everything." Derek looked up and smirked.

"So, bright and shiny Derek, you free for lunch today? My 1:00 rhinoplasty just got pushed back."

"I'd have to check with Addison. She had to leave early this morning and mentioned something about…" Derek trailed off when Mark started shaking his head. "What?"

"God, you're so whipped." Mark started down the hall, laughing to himself.

"Excuse me. I am not whipped." Derek filed his chart and hurried after him. He finally caught up to him at the doorway of the conference room.

"Whatever you say. Woah." Mark stopped short when he saw everybody huddling near the front of the room. "What's all this?"

"Hell if I know. Preston." Derek called out to Burke, who was sitting on the ledge. "What's going on?"

"Jenny Hughes brought in her new baby. All of the women are busy cooing over him. It's been going on like this for about fifteen minutes. Poor kid is smothered."

"Women and babies. I'll never understand." Mark said.

"Yeah, right." Derek answered unenthusiastically. At the sound of Dr. Hughes' name, his heart dropped. That was the doctor Addison had taken over. Her being back meant that, technically, Addison's time in Seattle would soon be over. When she came, it was only supposed to be for two months. He knew that all along, he did. But being with her had put him in this state of bliss that made him forget about the pretense of her time in Seattle. They had become so close these last two months that he couldn't, no, he wouldn't, just give that up. He had to convince her to stay in Seattle. Before Derek could put more thought into it, Burke shook him from his reverie.

"So is this meeting going to happen or can I catch some sleep before my bypass surgery?" Burke asked, checking his watch. Almost on cue, Richard walked in to the room.

"Alright ladies, I hate to break this up, but we do have a meeting to start. It won't be long; you can go back to baby watching right after." The women let out a universal moan, but found seats in the room nonetheless.

"Thank you. Now, as you all know, Dr. Hughes is the proud mother of a new baby boy." A round of applause filled the room. "We will be discussing her return to our staff after this meeting." Jenny nodded.

"Okay. Now we have two orders of business. One, we are going to be having an all staff meeting later today. Apparently, we have a little problem on our staff with syphilis." Stifled giggles came out of everyone. "Laugh now. You're all going to be getting the safe sex talk this afternoon, so get excited." Groans replaced the giggles. Before Richard could continue, Addison showed up in the door way.

"Ah, Dr. Montgomery, so nice of you to join us."

"Sorry Chief, babies had to be saved. Did I miss much?"

"We're all going through sex-ed this afternoon." Mark called out from the side of the room.

"Fantastic. I'm a little rusty anyway." Addison quipped, making brief eye contact with Derek. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"Thank you Addison." Richard said sarcastically, fighting a smile of his own. She nodded and found a seat next to Miranda, who was shaking her head in disapproval.

"What?" Addison whispered.

"Is a certain neurosurgeon not fulfilling your needs?" Miranda asked, quietly. Addison sat back, a little shocked.

"Miranda! I didn't expect that from you. I thought you didn't want details."

"Oh, trust me, I don't!" Miranda said emphatically. "Just thought your quip deserved one of its own."

"I see." Addison glanced briefly over her shoulder at Derek. "And for the record, my needs are very satisfied." Addison said, emphasizing the last part.

"Nasty." Miranda turned back facing forward and Addison just laughed. Richard finished talking and the room dispersed. Most of the women went back to the baby, Miranda and Addison included. Mark and Derek remained seated on the ledge sipping their coffees while Preston left for his surgery. Derek couldn't take his eyes off of Addie as she sat on the table's edge to talk to Richard about something. Jenny met up with them and Richard did the honors of introducing the two women. They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Addison excused herself from the conversation and headed towards the back of the room where they sat.

"Good morning boys." Addison reached slowly around Derek to grab her coffee. Her face was very close to his, and she couldn't help but place a quick kiss on his cheek. Derek had to practically sit on his hands to keep from touching her. They locked eyes and smiled as she sipped her coffee.

"Okay seriously, enough with the goggily eyes all of the time." Addison and Derek both turned to him. Before Derek could say something smart, Addison beat him to the punch.

"Oh, that's cute. Jealous, much?" Addison smirked, and Mark returned the face.

"I'm glad you two now think alike also. Your boyfriend said the same thing to me this morning when I made fun of his new 'shiny, happy' persona." Addison smiled adoringly at Derek. He just smiled back, a little embarrassed. "Alright, I'll let you two do whatever it is you do in private…" Addison hit his arm … "Okay, ow." Derek laughed. "I just need to know if he is free for lunch."

"So ask him." Addison said, confused.

"I did. He said I needed your approval." Addison looked at Derek incredulously.

"Excuse me, I did not say approval. I just wanted to see what you were doing first because your much more pleasant company."

"Well, obviously." Addison said.

"Okay, standing right here." Mark said, interrupting them. They both laughed.

"You're a big boy. You can take it. And Richard and I are having lunch so it's up to Derek."

"I'll see you at 1." Derek said.

"I'm honored." Mark said, clutching his chest sardonically. "As sad as I am to leave this love fest, I have a surgery to prep for." Grabbing his coffee off the ledge, Mark headed for the door.

"What's his problem?" Addison asked when he was out of ear shot.

"He's spent the last three nights alone. You know how that makes him." Derek said. Addison just nodded in agreement, fighting off a grin.

"You should be lucky that hasn't been a problem for you too." Addison leaned into whisper in his ear.

"It certainly wasn't last night." Derek winked and Addison blushed. Before he could say anything else, Richard interrupted.

"Derek, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Chief." Derek hopped up from the ledge and headed for the front of the room. Addison took his spot and leaned back against the window. She watched them talk for about a minute before Richard left the room. Derek waited a dew seconds before lightly closing and locking the door behind him. He grinned at Addison as he made his way back to her. Standing comfortably between her legs, Derek brought one hand up to brush away some of the hair that had fallen onto her face.

"You know, considering you left so early today, I don't think I got a proper good morning from you." Derek offered, running hands up and down her legs.

"You think so?" Addison asked and Derek nodded, his eyes fixated on her lips. "Well then, we should fix that immediately." Derek nodded again. Bridging the minimal distance between them, Derek captured her lips with his. Addison eagerly responded, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold him close. Begrudgingly pulling back for air, Derek rested his forehead against hers.

"Good morning." Derek said first, panting slightly. Addison laughed softly, but reciprocated.

"Apparently it's a very good morning. What's gotten into you?" Derek bit his tongue- he couldn't say anything yet, not until he was more prepared. So, he digressed.

"You're wearing my favorite skirt." Derek said heavily, quickly kissing her again. This time, when he pulled back, he began to trail kisses down her jaw.

"It appears that I am." Addison replied, running her hands through his hair to rest on the back of his neck. Her eyes closed as Derek trailed his kisses down her chest as far as her blouse allowed. His fingers eagerly found the buttons and popped them open one by one, carefully caressing the new found skin. The low moans coming from Addison only encouraged him further.

Just as Derek reached the lacy black bra he watched her put on this morning, he felt her pull his head back so that she could kiss him. As much as she loved what he was doing, Addison had a habit of not going long before she wanted his arms securely around her and their lips meshed together. After two months together, Derek expected this and readily obliged. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Derek tightened his grip on her waist and lifted her off the ledge and into his arms. Carefully walking them to the table, Derek set her down.

Addison's hands found their way to his shoulders, pushing his lab coat off. Derek did the same to hers, lifting her blouse from where it was tucked into her skirt. His hands then made their way up to the clasp of her bra.

"You know, ever since I watched you put this on this morning, all I wanted to do was rip it off." Derek whispered huskily in her ear. Addison was about to respond when Derek started to suck on the soft skin between her breasts, rendering a cognitive mess. She felt bad about making him do all the work, but he was just so damn good that she couldn't dare interrupt.

**Richard's Office **

**11:30 A.M. **

"Chief, I have Dr. Shepherd for you." Patricia intercommed to Richard.

"Send him in please." Richard removed his glasses and set them on the files on his desk. Derek entered ten seconds later.

"Lock the door Shep." Derek did as he was told and made his way to one of the vacant chairs in front of Richard's desk.

"You said it was important. What's up?"

"I've been getting headaches lately. More and more frequent as the days pass. And today, I started experiencing spurts of blindness in my right eye." The smile Derek has been wearing from early quickly dropped from his face.

"What are you thinking?"

"To be honest, I don't know. Best case scenario I'm getting migraines. Worst case, I have a tumor. That's why I called you in. I want you to examine me. And if it's a tumor, you're going to remove it."

"Chief, I don't know…" Derek began to protest.

"Derek, if I have the tumor, I want the best neurosurgeon out there removing it. And that's you." Derek was touched by the sentiment.

"Alright. Why don't I get the CT tech to take a long lunch and we'll get you scanned. There's no use in worrying until we have something substantial to worry about."

"Thank you Derek." Richard responded earnestly.

"You're welcome." Derek stood from his seat and began to head for the door.

"Oh, Shepherd, one more thing." Derek turned back to face Richard, a quizzical look on his face. "What's going on between you and Addison?" All of the color drained from Derek's face and his mouth suddenly became very dry.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Derek did his best to remain cool.

"Well, this morning, Jenny realized she left one of her sons' rattles on the desk of the conference room. When I went back to get it, the door was locked. And you were the last two in there."

"Oh that. Yeah, we were just talking. Friendly conversation. She had something private to talk about, so we locked the door. Sorry about that." Derek did his best to sound truthful, but had a sinking feeling the chief didn't buy any of it.

"Friendly conversation?" Richard asked.

"Friendly conversation." Derek responded.

"Okay." Derek went for the handle, dying to get out of the room "Derek."

"Yes, sir?"

"You're scrub shirt is on inside out." Derek looked down at his shirt and turned ten million shades of red.

"So it is. I guess I was really tired this morning when I got dressed."

"I bet." Richard said, holding back laughter.

"I'll page you when the CT is free." Derek bolted out the door. Richard nodded and watched him go.

**Derek's House**

**7:30 P.M. **

Derek put his car in park and turned it off. Sitting there, he could see through his living room window into the kitchen. Addison was there, making dinner for them. She no doubt had jazz playing from the music channel on the television and a glass of red wine at her side. Watching her move around, she knew where everything was. And why wouldn't she: she rearranged it all to her liking. Although it killed Derek to go with it, her system made much more sense. Only he would have had the plates on the top shelf.

Making his way up the porch steps, he closed his eyes, picturing in his head everything he would see. Her coat on the hook by the door, her bags draped over the chair. Her ridiculously expensive shoes would be sitting beside that chair. The table would be set, candles and all. And instead of fish, the first smell he felt would be of her. Her perfume was everywhere in there, and he loved it. There was no other option in his mind. He had to convince her to stay in Seattle, to stay with him.

"Hi." Derek called out as he set his briefcase and coat down.

"Hey." Addison called back from the kitchen.

"It smells amazing in here. What did you make?"

"Penne a la vodka. It's my mom's recipe. And a Caesar salad." A smile crept over his face.

"My favorite." Derek said, leaning against the island.

"I know." Addison said casually, making her way over to him. Kissing him gently, she reached around for the remote to turn the music down. "Beer or wine?"

"Beer would be great." Addison nodded and reached into the fridge. Tossing it over to him, he caught it and popped the top off. Taking a sip, he began to rifle through his mail.

"So how was the rest of your day? I didn't see much of you." Addison said, her head buried in the freezer. Derek wanted more than anything to tell her about Richard, but he wanted to wait until later to share. Knowing her, she'd want to leave his house immediately to go over and see how he was doing.

Done with the mail, Derek laid down on his couch, propping his head up with a pillow. Turning down the water for the pasta, Addie grabbed her wine and joined him. She plopped herself on the far side, sitting up. The made eye contact, and Derek just shook his head.

"What?" Addison asked, confused. Derek sat up, took her wine from her and placed it on his table, and pulled her down to lie on top of him.

"That's better." Addison just laughed, situating herself comfortably on top of him. "My day was good. Nothing extraordinary, just busy. What about you?"

"I delivered triplets. Three adorable baby girls."

"That's great." Derek said, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yeah, they deserve it. They were very nice people."

"Good." Derek and Addison stayed like that, silent and enjoying each other's presence, for about ten minutes. Derek was starting to drift when he felt her moving on top of him. Addison was trying to be quiet, seeing how tired he was. She was barely sitting up when he reached for her hand.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To take out the pasta. It's done."

"Don't go." Derek blurted out.

"Honey, I'll be right back. I just need to…"

"No. I mean New York. Don't go back to New York." Derek smacked himself internally for side-swiping her. He hadn't meant to: it was instinctual to hold on to her.

"What?" Addison asked, thoroughly confused. Derek sat up to talk to her.

"Seeing Jenny today reminded me that your contract was only for two months and those two months are almost up. And I don't want you going back to New York. I know we never talked about us being a long-term thing, but I can't lose you. So please, stay in Seattle. Richard will hire you in a second, and then we could be together."

"Oh, Derek…" Addison looked overcome with emotion.

"No. Stop." Derek brought two fingers to her lips, softly silencing them. "Please let me finish. This has been killing me all day." Addison nodded, and Derek moved his fingers from her lips to take her hands in his.

"Before you came to Seattle, I had a simple life. It was good, just very ordinary. I got up, went to work, poked around brains, maybe went to Joe's with Mark, and came home. Lots of colleagues at work, a couple of them I'd call friends. Four sisters who I couldn't get rid of if I tried, and more nieces and nephews than I know what to do with. Fishing on the weekends was the highlight of my week, gave me time to unwind. But that was it. Very run of the mill. And then, you showed up. When me and Mark went to pick you up at the airport, and I saw you walk off that plane, you took my breath away. You were so gorgeous and had become such an amazing doctor and person. And everyday I saw you, I fell more and more in love with you. And then that night at your hotel happened, and it was perfect. It was so spontaneous, and so not how I usually am." Derek paused, taking a deep breath and adjusting his grip on her hands.

"These last two months have been incredible. It was like I was drowning, and you saved me. You breathed this life in to me that I didn't even know I was missing. I never thought I could be this happy. But every time I see you in the hallway, or think about you during staff meetings, or you come home from a shift late and get in to bed and snuggle into my arms, I just feel happy. I don't know how to explain it any better than that, but there it is." Derek made eye contact with Addison, and could see the tears threatening to flow.

"Addison, I love you. I'm in love with you." They started to fall with his statement, and Derek couldn't tell if they were happy tears or sad ones. "Please don't go back to New York. I spent all of today imagining going back to a life without you in it, and I didn't like it. You can make a great life here. We can make a great life here. Please stay." Derek said all he had to. Now it was up to her. Addison released his hands and brought them to his face. Pulling him to her, she kissed him slow and gentle, conveying more emotion in one kiss than words ever could. Pulling back, she kept her hands on his face, occasionally bringing them up to run them through his unruly curls. She was smiling slightly, which Derek took as a good sign.

"Remember how I had lunch with Richard today?" Derek nodded. "The reason we met was to talk about extending my contract in Seattle." Derek made eye contact with her, smiling uncontrollably. "Derek, you were so right in everything you just said. I came to Seattle originally to just get away from New York. I couldn't go through a day without an unpleasant memory, so I ran as far away as I could. Everything that's happened these last two months has been like a dream. A dream that I didn't want to end. So I asked Richard if he'd like to keep me on full-time. He smiled kind of like you are right now: like a kid let loose in a candy store. Its very endearing you know."

"I get that a lot." Derek whispered, leaning in to kiss her again. "So you're staying?" He asked, unable to contain his excitement.

"It looks that way, yes." Addison smiled and Derek kissed her passionately again. Pulling back, he kissed her all over her face before sitting back in his seat, playing with her hands.

"So you talked to Richard this afternoon, all on your own, without prompting?" Addison nodded, smiling slightly, knowing where he was going with this. "So my bearing my soul to you in a plea to get you to stay with me was completely unnecessary to get you to actually stay?"

"Yep, pretty much." Addison said, now outwardly laughing.

"Just checking." Derek grabbed the nearest pillow and put it to his face, falling backwards on to the couch. Addison laughed harder, moving over to straddle his lap. Pulling away the pillow, she forced him to look at her.

"If it matters, that was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me." She kissed him quick and gentle.

"It helps." Derek grabbed her waist and pulled her down for a much more passionate and deep kiss. Addison sat back up, letting her fingers play with his sweater.

"Now, there were conditions to my staying though." Derek waved his hand, motioning for her elaborate. "Well, the first one was that I check with you. We hadn't yet discussed making us a more long-term thing and I wanted to see how you felt about that." Derek didn't say anything, just kept smiling as he pulled her back down for another intense kiss.

"I think we covered that one tonight."

"Yeah I think so." Addison said, trying to regain her breath. "Now, surprisingly, Richard already knew about us." Addison looked down at Derek with raised eyebrows.

"I'll explain later. I promise. Let's finish on these conditions first." Derek kissed her hand.

"Okay. Second was that I needed next weekend off to go back to New York to take care of some stuff, send some stuff here, etc."

"I'm sure he agreed to that."

"He did, until I mentioned bringing company." Derek raised his eyebrows at her. "I already talked to Mark, but he has two surgeries that day so if you're free I'll take you, if I must." Addison said, toyingly.

"Do you think you're funny?"

"You know I am. Anyhow, Richard wasn't thrilled, but agreed to let me take you with me, if you'd like to take a vacation."

"I'd love too." Derek said.

"Great. Because it's also my best friend Sav's birthday and her husband is throwing her a huge party and I want you to meet them so badly. And the rest of my friends. Everyone should be there. It's going to be huge."

"It sounds great."

"Oh, good I'm glad. I've told them all about you and they are very protective so get ready for the third degree."

"I'm sure I can handle it. I've been told by many sources that my smile has an 'effect' on women." Derek teased.

"You could call it an 'effect'." Addie responded. "So, back to the whole Richard thing, how is it that he knew about us before I told him?"

"Let's just say that I apparently can't dress myself without supervision." Addison looked at him, eyebrows still raised. "After our little adventure in the conference room, I put my scrub shirt on inside out." Derek said sheepishly.

"Good thing you have that smile, because you're not the suavest of men."

"Thanks." Derek said sardonically.

"No problem, babe." Addison kissed him quickly before getting off his lap to finish dinner.

"So tell me more about New York." Derek got up, joining her in the kitchen.

**So, she's staying, he said I love you, she said it back…this chapter had a lot of character growth, don't you think?**

**Next chapter has them in New York. Then the chapter after that we're going to mix things up! **

**Review!**


	13. New York, NY

**So my wounded Addek heart after the last episode is attempting to mend itself through writing. It's helping…a little. Shonda's brilliant, but seriously delusional. **

**And I'm personally torn about this spin-off deal. I'm worried that we'll lose Kate Walsh altogether, and that is just NOT acceptable in any way, shape, or form. ABC better be careful or my fiery spears are going in their direction. **

**For now, they'll be in yours if you don't review so get on that! Hope you like. **

**Seattle Grace**

**8:00 A.M. **

"So our flight leaves at 10:30, so I figure we can leave here at about 9." Addison told Derek.

"I know." He responded calmly.

"And it lands a little before 7. I already called for a car service to take us to the hotel. There is no point in having a car in the city."

"I know." He responded equally as calm, listening to her go through their plans for about the 100th time.

"We're seeing Savvy and Weiss for dinner tonight. And the party is Saturday." Addison continued to ramble on until Derek took her hands into his own.

"Babe, I know. We talked about this three times last night and once twice breakfast this morning." Addison's cheeks flushed. "Everything is going to be fine, I promise."

"I know." Addison nodded, taking a deep breath. "I'm just a little on edge."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Derek said sarcastically, earning himself a smack on the arm.

"Not funny."

"Sorry." Derek apologized, rubbing his arm. "Why are we even here at all if our flight is so early?"

"Richard made me promise that both of our services would be in full working order before we left. So make sure yours is." Addison said authoritatively with an eyebrow raise.

"It will be." Derek said defensively. Before he could go on, her pager went off. "Take care of that, and I'll meet you in the lobby at 9. It's going to be fine"

"Okay." Addison said, reassuring herself more than anything else. "Thank you Derek. For coming with me."

"You don't have to thank me. I'd go anywhere with you." Derek winked at her.

"I think you may just be too charming for your own good." Addison said, leaning across him to file a chart.

"Hey, it worked on you." Addison just shook her head at him as she headed towards the elevators. Derek watched her go before getting back charts. Behind his back, Bailey and her interns emerged from the locker room. Cristina, Izzie, and Meredith were all at the back of the pack.

"So I overheard from one of the scrub nurses that Dr. Montgomery is staying." Izzie offered.

"In Seattle?" Cristina asked and Izzie nodded. "Good. I did not get to work with her nearly enough considering her reputation. She's tip top of the neonatal field. I have to get in on one of her surgeries."

"Why do you think she's staying?" Izzie asked.

"No clue. Mer?" Cristina tried fruitlessly to get Meredith's attention. "Mer? Hello?" Cristina resolved to shove her.

"What?" Meredith snapped.

"You were daydreaming again." Izzie spoke. "Shepherd must be close." She whispered to Cristina, who just laughed.

"Excuse me?" Meredith asked accusingly.

"Oh please Mer. Whenever Shepherd is around, you get all googily eyed like a cheerleader in love with the quarterback."

"I do not." Meredith tried to deny the accusation.

"Yes you do." All three of the other interns responded, now rather obviously watching Derek where he stood at the nurses' station. Bailey, seeing this, demanded their attention.

"Excuse me. This is not an aquarium. We do not observe the attendings and poke at their glass cages. We work with them." Bailey stated in her Nazi tone. They all nodded. "Thank you."

"Dr. Bailey?" Izzie interrupted. "Is it true Dr. Montgomery is staying at Seattle Grace?"

"Yes it is." Bailey answered.

"Any special reason?" She questioned further. Bailey glanced up at Izzie, then over her shoulder to where Derek was still standing. He looked up at the same time and smiled when their eyes met. Bailey continued to just glare, wiping the smile off his face quickly as he returned to his work. Bailey just laughed.

"She knew you five needed much more work and couldn't bear to leave. Now down to actual business, Karev you're with Sloan, Cristina you're with Burke, O'Malley the Chief has requested you personally, Stevens you're with me, and Grey you're with Shepherd, then the pit." The interns dispersed to their various locations. Meredith headed towards Derek, confused as to why she was only with him for a bit. After hearing Bailey answer Izzie, she decided it best to just ask him herself.

"Good morning Dr. Shepherd." Meredith said, trying to remain calm.

"Hey, Meredith. Are you with me today?" Derek asked, looking up.

"Yes I am. But only for a little. Then I'm in the pit. Is there a reason?" She enquired.

"There is. I'm leaving at 9:00 today so I only need your help discharging patients before I go."

"Oh ok." Meredith tried to hide her disappointment. "Big weekend plans?"

"I wish. Just a boring neurosurgery conference to go to in New York." He said with his dreamy smile as he began towards the elevators.

"Sounds exciting." She joked.

"A free trip to New York can't be so bad, right?" Derek asked, leaning over her to press the button for their floor. She got a full whiff of is cologne: he smelled amazing. As they rode up, she caught sidewards glances at him as subtly as possible. Cristina was right: she was severely infatuated with him.

**John F. Kennedy Airport **

**Baggage Claim**

**7:15 P.M. **

"It's nice to see you conscious." Derek joked with Addison as she yawned.

"What? I always sleep on planes. It's not my fault you're a light sleeper." She said defensively, still trying to wake up.

"Whatever. Gave me time to watch you sleep." He smiled dreamily at her and stepped closer.

"That's a little creepy babe I'm not going to lie." She said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I can't help it. You're so cute when you sleep." Derek leaned down to kiss her.

"Yeah, still creepy." She kissed him again.

"Fine, then next time, you stay awake and talk to me."

"Doubtful, but I'll try." She smiled up at him and they kissed again. Derek brought a hand up to cup her cheek and tilt her head slightly to kiss her deeper. The beeping of the carousel starting got their attention and they jumped apart. Luckily, their bags were two of the first ones off. Derek got them from the carousel and set them at their feet.

"That's everything right?" Derek asked.

"Yes, we're all set. I just need to find Paul." Addison said, rifling through her purse for her phone.

"Okay. Who's Paul?"

"My father's driver. His company's really. I call him whenever I need a ride to the airport or something. He's the nicest of men." Addison said standing, phone in hand.

"I think he found us." Derek saw a man approaching and got her attention. Addison turned and smiled, heading in his direction.

"Ms. Montgomery." Paul addressed her very officially.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Addison?"

"Sorry, old habit."

"How are you? How's the family?" Addison enquired.

"Good. My wife just had our second baby." Paul said proudly.

"That's amazing. I'm sorry I wasn't here to deliver her."

"We found someone, obviously not as good as you, but everyone is happy and healthy."

"That's all that matters." Addison replied. Derek approached Addison from behind, holding their bags. "Oh sorry sweetie. We were just catching up."

"Don't worry about it. I'm Derek." Derek extended his hand to shake Paul's.

"Oh god my manners. Derek Shepherd, this is Paul Anders. Paul, this is my boyfriend Derek."

"It's nice to meet you Derek." Paul said, shaking his hand.

"Same here." Derek replied back.

"I'm sure you both are tired. Let's get you to the hotel." Paul reached down to take the bags, but Derek already had them.. "Sir, allow me." Paul offered.

"No need. I can get them. They're not so heavy. Well, at least mine aren't." Derek teased Addison.

"Really, it's not a problem. I insist." Derek glanced at Addison, who nodded that it was fine, and Derek handed them over. He knelt down momentarily to get something out before they left for the car, and Paul took advantage to whisper into Addison's ear.

"Well-mannered. I like him" He said, to which Addison grinned.

"Me too." She replied.

"All set." Derek said, standing. Both Paul and Addison looked at him funny. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing." They answered in unison. Addison took Derek's hand as they walked towards the exit.

**St. Regis Hotel**

**8:00 P.M.**

"Come on Add, we're going to be late." Derek shouted to the bathroom as he finished adjusting his tie.

"Don't worry. They know how I get ready. They won't expect us to be on time." She called back.

"Well hurry up anyway. I need help with my tie. It's not cooperating tonight." He ripped it from his neck frustrated.

"Alright I'm here." Addison through the bathroom door open and emerged in a dark green cocktail dress. Derek turned to face her, and froze.

"Wow. You look…stunning." Derek managed to choke out.

"Thank you." Addison continued to move around the room, putting a few things away before helping Derek. His eyes followed her the entire time. When she finally stopped in front of him and began to do his tie for her, he couldn't help but touch her.

"How come I haven't seen this before?" He asked, motioning to her outfit.

"It's new." She said, her attention focused on his neck.

"Well, I most definitely approve." He said emphatically, trying to look down and take it all in.

"I'm glad. I'd hate to have to go through the trouble of taking it off and finding something else." Addison replied, tightening the knot. She ran her hands down his chest, smoothing it out.

"Oh, don't you worry, when you take that off, I'll be doing all the work." He winked at her and leaned in to kiss her quickly on the cheek. Grabbing his jacket from the bed, he put it on and extended his arm. She took her purse from the nightstand and joined him.

**The Palm **

**10:30 P.M. **

"I did not!" Addison exclaimed.

"Oh yes you did! And I have proof!" Savvy returned, and Addison's face lost all of its color.

"No you don't. I'm calling your bluff." She rebutted.

"At the party tomorrow night, we'll be finding out. Right Derek?"

"Naturally I believe Addison…" Derek looked down at her, and she leaned up to kiss him.

"Thank you sweetie." Addison said excitedly.

"However, if Savvy says she has pictures, I'm not going to lie, I want to see them." Sav and Weiss both laughed as Addison smacked his stomach and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Good man." Weiss said, adjusting himself so his arm rested over Savvy's chair, mirroring Derek's position over Addie.

"I dislike you all right now."

"Whatever you say." Derek kissed her temple softly, causing Addison to relent and turn her body back towards him, one hand resting on his leg. Before she could say anything, Derek's beeper went off.

"Is that you?" Addison asked as Derek fished around in his pockets for his pager. "You're 3,000 miles away. It's not like you can consult."

"I have a patient being transported from Los Angeles for a tumor removal. I wanted to be paged when they arrived. That's all this is. I promise. If you'll excuse me." Derek stood up, throwing his napkin on the chair and heading towards the bar to borrow a phone. All three watched him go.

"Alright I know your bursting at the seams. Let's hear it." Addison motioned at Sav.

"He's fantastic! Seriously Addie, I love him."

"Really?" Addison asked, shocked she didn't roast him like she usually did to Addison's boyfriends.

"Be glad I'm married or you'd have competition. He's gorgeous." She said honestly. Weiss cleared his throat.

"Not to interrupt, but seeing as I am the one you're married to, if you could keep that down I'd appreciate it. I like him too, and I'd hate to have to kill him before we can become friends." Weiss said jokingly.

"You'd kill for me sweetie? You're the best husband ever." Savvy leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks." He responded sarcastically. Addison just watched them interact and laughed.

"So you guys really approve?"

"Addison, he's great." Savvy said honestly. "And as your best friend, it's my job to be brutally honest so you know he must be good if I'm not bashing him."

"True." Addison smiled. Sav slightly poked Weiss in the ribs and nodded her head so he could get the message to become scarce.

"Uh, I'm going to go to the bathroom." Weiss stood up and headed towards the rest room.

"Slick Sav."

"Well, he doesn't take hints so well so I had to get physical." She joked. Addison sipped her water, preparing for the serious conversation to come.

"It was only a matter of time before you kicked him out."

"Well, yeah. We need an 'us' talk." Sav said.

"Go for it." Addison offered.

"Now, I want an honest answer to this, and I'll know if you're lying so don't bother trying: how are you?"

"If you asked me that a week ago, I would have said on cloud nine. But now, with me deciding to stay in Seattle and being back here, it's all coming back. All of it. The good and the bad." Addison paused, her gaze fixated on the napkin she was running through her fingers. "He took me here for our anniversary last year."

"Oh, Addie, why didn't you say something?"

"Because I don't want that part of my life affecting my life as it is now. I'm moving on, and that, unfortunately, means dealing with the past. Even when it hurts."

"You do realize you're the strongest person I know right?" Sav reached out her hand to Addison's.

"I'm going to miss you so much in Seattle."

"Don't say that. We're only a plane ride apart. We'll talk all the time, more than Weiss will want, and it will be fine." Addison laughed through the few tears that were falling. "Besides, Seattle's working for you. You look great, really."

"I feel good. Better than I have in along time." Addison said with a smile.

"And, I'm guessing a certain neurosurgeon has something to do with that." Savvy said with a wink.

"Oh just a little."

"So things are progressing well?" Sav said suggestively.

"You have a very dirty mind my friend." Sav shot her a 'duh' look. "Fine, fine. They are progressing very well."

"Is he good? Because he looks like he'd be good." Addison just smiled at her and Savvy sat back and squealed. "I knew it!"

"You do know you're married right?"

"What? A friend can't be happy for her friend… and live semi-vicariously through her?"

"There it is! You're never that inquisitive. Not even you." Before Savvy could rebut, the men returned to their seats.

"Is it safe to return?" Weiss asked before taking his seat.

"Yes, you're fine." Sav kidded, kissing him quickly on the lips. Derek adjusted himself comfortably against Addison.

"So what did you two talk about?" Derek whispered into her ear.

"Girl talk." Addison patted his cheek lightly.

"I see. No boys allowed?" Derek asked playfully.

"No boys allowed." She affirmed with a smile, kissing him softly.

**St. Regis Hotel**

**1:00 A.M.**

Addison and Derek were lying in bed together, her back up against his chest, his arm draped over her waist to hold her close. Addison intertwined their fingers where they rested on her stomach. She could feel his breath steadying against her neck as he was drifting towards sleep.

"Derek, you still awake?" She asked, tilting her head back slightly, praying she'd caught him.

"How could I possibly sleep with you thinking so loudly?" Derek responded, his voice drunk on sleep as he tightened his grip on her waist.

"Sorry." Addison shifted in his arms, turning her body around so they were face to face.

"You want to talk, don't you?" He asked through closed eyes.

"Do you mind?" She asked, petting his face, and running her fingers through his hair.

"Of course not. But the lights are staying dim. My corneas beg you."

"I think we can do that." Addison laughed. With one hand she covered his eyes, the other reaching behind her to turn the lights on slightly, and very slowly. Removing her hand, he opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"Perfect. So what's got that brain of yours churning at 1 in the morning?" Taking the hand formerly covering his eyes, he kissed her knuckles.

"I'm scared." She admitted quietly, her eyes looking down. Derek looked at her for a moment, a little surprised, but quickly rested a hand on her cheek, moving it to under her chin to force her to look at him. She tried to fight him off, pushing his hand a way and rolling her face into the pillow.

"Nice try. If you wake me up in the middle of the night, we're going to talk." Derek rolled her back over, so she was facing him. "Spill. What's wrong babe?"

"I'm scared." She said weakly.

"We covered that already. I'm going to need a little more. What's scaring you?"

"Lately, everything. Deciding to move to Seattle, being with you, being back in New York, going back to the brownstone I haven't slept in since I found my best friend and my fiancée in bed together. It all seems to be piling up and I feel like I'm drowning."

Derek was a little unsure how to react to everything she said. Addison made eye contact with him, the disappointment at the parts about him showing through.

"No, baby, don't take that the wrong way. The parts about you and Seattle are the good scared, the excited scared. I can't wait to move into my beautiful penthouse apartment looking over the water and be with you." Derek loosened up at that, flashing a quick smile. "It's just the other stuff that terrifies me a little." Addison lied back down, her head now on Derek's chest above his heart. Hearing his beat always calmed her.

"Well, I can't tell you that tomorrow won't be hard, that going back won't bring memories to the surface that you've worked hard to suppress. But it's good for you to face them. Keeping this stuff bottled up is bad for you, and you won't be able to move past it until you face it head on." Derek continued running his fingers through her hair.

"And if you feel like its becoming too much, I'll be there for support." Addison didn't look up, just played with the hem of his shirt, occasionally slipping her hand under it to draw circles on his stomach.

"When did you become so wise?" She asked.

"Become? Honey, I'm as wise as they come." At that, Addison looked up, eyebrow raised. "That, and Kathleen hasn't shut up about the psycho babble since she got her PhD."

"Well I'll have to remember to thank her. You're very good, you know that?"

"I do. Now get some sleep. Long day tomorrow." Derek leaned down to kiss the crown of her head, then reached over to turn the lights back off.

"Derek?" Addison asked into the darkness.

"Yeah?" He responded, voice drunk on sleepiness once again.

"I love you." She said quietly, but meaning every word. Derek smiled uncontrollably. Lucky the lights were out, or she probably would have made fun of him.

"I love you too."

**So, an update for your Wednesday night. Hope you all liked. Please review, it makes me heart swell to four times its size!**

**Next chapter preview: angsty-goodness!**


	14. Moving In

**So my school life is a living hell. 4 tests this Wednesday, one more on Friday. Then spring break. If I make it to spring break- which is the question of the week. **

**Thank Kendel for this update…she told me to avoid my suicidal tendencies and throw it into my writing. That, and she threatened to not write until I do. So you all owe me a double thank you. **

**Addison's Apartment**

**10:30 A.M. **

"Now remind me again why we are doing this?" Mark grunted, holding up his end of a very heavy couch. Derek held the other. "I mean, you're the boyfriend, so you're contractually obligated to be here. I'm just confused as to why I am this early on my day off."

"Well, you are her friend too. And she asked you very nicely." Derek responded, heading backwards through the door.

"I'm not a nice person. With only three-fourths of these boxes upstairs, I've suddenly lost my inspiration." Mark set down his end of the couch and dusted off his jeans.

"She did promise to talk to that new blond nurse on her service that has half a brain and shot you down twice already." Derek took a sip of his coffee.

"There it is. I'm inspired once again." Mark exclaimed, and Derek did all he just shook his head and laughed along with his friend. "We heading back down?" Mark asked, but Derek's attention was caught by Addison moving around the bedroom. She had been in there for about thirty minutes and he was very curious what she was up to.

"Uh, yeah. I'm right behind you. I just want to see if Addie needs help moving anything around in there."

"Ha. Yea, I'm sure _that's_ why you're going into her bedroom." Mark called over his shoulder as he headed downstairs.

"Bite me." He called back to him. Derek took one more sip of his coffee before setting it down and heading towards the bedroom. He leaned against the door frame, smiling as he watched her try and arrange the frames that were to grace the mantel over her fire place. She tried a million different possibilities, still not picking up that he was watching her.

"I liked it the other way." Derek spoke up, surprising Addison enough for her to visibly jump.

"Derek, God, you scared me." Addison replied breathlessly.

"I'm sorry." Derek pushed himself vertical and walked towards her.

"It's okay. I was just…"

"Trying every physical arrangement of six frames? Yeah, I saw most of that." Addison smacked Derek in the arm. "Ow! It was a compliment. You look very cute when you're thinking deeply about something."

"Well in that case, I'm sorry I smacked you." Derek nodded his acceptance. "That hard." Derek's smile dropped. "What? You're still annoying." Addison said, moving past him to the living room.

"Adorably annoying though, right?" He called after her, following her path out of the room.

"Yes. And that's what makes me hate you. The fact that I can't." Addison said with a sigh, standing up from the box she was rummaging through.

"Now that's a compliment." Derek smiled at her and moved closer. "Come here." Reaching out for her waist, he pulled her in close, linking his hands around the small of her back. Muffling her giggles with a kiss, he dipped her back for better access. Setting her back up right, he pulled back and smiled dreamily at her. She brought her hands to his cheeks as her eyes fluttered open and she licked her lips.

"Yep. Definitely adorable." Derek just laughed as Addison's forehead fell to his chest and she tried to regulate her breathing. His hands rubbed slow, soothing circles on her back as he looked out the window at her view of the water.

"Wow, Addie, your view is really incredible." Addison adjusted herself in his arms so that she was now leaning back into his embrace. His hands came to rest on her stomach as she rubbed his arms.

"It is, isn't it?" Derek nodded, taking in the intoxicating smell of her hair as he rested his cheek against her head.

"It is. You know what's also incredible?" He asked, bringing one hand up from her stomach to gently move the hair off her shoulder to give him access to her neck. He kissed behind her ear soft and sensual, getting a light moan in return.

"What's that?" She whispered, tilting her head to give him better access.

"How amazing you smell." Derek moved his mouth lower, gently biting her neck before soothing the wound with his tongue. She laughed slightly, before a shiver shook her body and she pulled his arms tighter around her.

"Oh, don't stop." She moaned when he pulled his mouth momentarily away from her neck.

"I wasn't planning on it." Derek said against her skin with a smile. Quickly returning his lips to the base of her neck, he began to creep one hand teasingly slow up her shirt. Both were so lost in each other that they didn't hear Mark come back through the door.

"Okay, seriously!" Mark said loudly, setting down the two boxes in his hand. Addison and Derek both jumped apart, trying to look unsuspicious. "Did you two not have enough time to grope each other this morning before I arrived?"

"We weren't doing…" Derek attempted to protest, but Mark quickly interrupted.

"Don't even bother. I'm all for getting some, but that was just something I would have died happily without seeing."

"Mark, be good or my nurse isn't going to give you the time of a day. I'm already going to have to lie a lot. Don't make it worse." Addison walked past him through to the kitchen for some water. Derek couldn't help but laugh out loud, getting a serious glare from Mark.

"Sorry man, that was cold. And really funny." Derek said, laughing some more.

"I do not need this abuse." Mark said with a huff.

"Oh calm yourself. You know I love you Mark." Addison walked back towards the guys, pausing in front of Mark to give him a kiss on the cheek. He grinned wickedly at Derek as he slid an arm around her waist, and Derek lost the urge to laugh and just stared unhappy. Addison slid her own arm around Mark's waist and glanced in Derek's direction.

"I'm not amused." Derek crossed his arms across his chest. Mark continued to smile. Addison rolled her eyes and started to move towards him. Mark's hand slid across her backside as she moved, which earned him a death stare.

"Honey, don't pout. I may love Mark, but…" Addison stood up on her toes to whisper into his ear the rest of her thought. Derek began to grin uncontrollably. Addison settled back down, kissing him quickly on the mouth before heading back towards the bedroom. "Back to work boys. I'd like to have a couch in my home before lunch." Derek started towards the door, Mark on his heels.

"Let's make this quick. I want you out of here as soon as possible." Derek said as he called for the elevator.

"What the hell did she whisper in your ear?" Mark asked incredulously.

"No way. It's private. She'll kill me for sharing."

"So you'll tell me later?" Mark asked.

"Yep." The doors to the elevator closed, both men smiling inside.

**Seattle Grace**

**Attendings' Locker Room**

**8:30 A.M. **

Derek sat on the bench of the locker room with his back to the door, tying his sneakers. He was exhausted from his first surgery of the day, and didn't even respond to the door opening and closing behind him when Addison entered. The tension was evident in his back and shoulders, so she took it upon herself to help him out.

"You look extremely tense." Addison said as her hands began to kneed and rub his back. Derek smiled when he felt her hands go to work.

"You have no idea." Derek unconsciously leaned back into her.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"Emergency craniotomy. A hockey player got hit during an early morning practice and was suffering from right-eye blindness and I needed to keep his skull cap off for about three hours to reduce the swelling." Addison moved around Derek to sit across from him.

"So that's why I woke up alone my first morning in my new apartment." She asked chidingly, but Derek took her serious.

"I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice and I didn't want to wake…" Addison quieted Derek's ramblings by taking his face in her hands and kissing him softly.

"Babe, I was just kidding. I heard your pager go off. It's fine." She rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

"Okay. I still feel bad, though. It was your first morning in your new place."

"You can make it up to me with dinner tonight." Addison suggested, as she played with his stethoscope.

"I think we can arrange that. There's this new fish place Burke told me about that I wanted to take you to. How does 8 o'clock sound?"

"It sounds perfect." She responded with a smile.

"Good." Derek smiled back, grabbing her waist to pull her closer.

"Derek!" Addison exclaimed. He arranged her legs so they were now resting on his and linked around his back.

"What?" He asked innocently. "I just want to be as close to you as possible."

"That's a cute line. Mark teach you that?" She asked jokingly, linking her arms around his neck.

"Nope. That was all me. I'm quite the ladies' man when I want to be." Addison laughed a bit.

"Sure you are honey. Just try and contain yourself. I don't want any other women getting the wrong idea about your intentions. You…. are…. mine." Addison said seductively, kissing him teasingly between each word. Upon finishing her thought, she leaned more into him and kissed him deeply, teasing him with her tongue. When she pulled back, his eyes were still closed.

"Yes I am." He obediently said back to her.

"Good." Addison went to push herself off his lap but felt his hands tighten.

"Where are you going?" He asked incredulously.

"I have a surgery in 30 minutes. That's why I came in here in the first place."

"Do you know what we can do in 30 minutes?" Derek said suggestively.

"Nice try. I want to be there when the mother goes under. She's very nervous."

"That's low. Guilt me into letting you leave." He countered.

"I'll make it up to you tonight, I promise." Addison stood up from the bench and lowered her head level to his ear. "My new shower is very spacious." She whispered, gently nibbling on his ear before heading towards her locker.

"Oh, you are seriously evil. I'm going to start calling you Satan." He said seriously, standing up to join her.

"Satan? I think I like that. Maybe I can get a cute little red number to go with my new nickname. If you're good, I'll even wear it for you." Addison opened her locker into his face where he stood next to it. Before she could even reach in, Derek slammed it shut again.

"Derek, what are you…." Addison didn't get through her thought before Derek had her up against the lockers. He wasted no time hoisting her into his arms and attacking her mouth with his own. Tongues dueled heatedly as her hands ran their way through his hair. Only when they ran out of air did they dare to pull away, neither wanting to give control over to the other. Breathing heavily, Addison rested her forehead against Derek's.

"What was that? Not that I'm complaining." She asked, very satisfied but very confused.

"I have a thing for little red numbers." Derek said seriously, causing them both to break into a fit of laughter. Setting her down slowly, he brought a hand to ease her hair off her face.

"Good luck with your surgery." Derek kissed her softly once more before heading out of the room. Addison watched him go, leaning against the lockers until she fully calmed down. A huge grin played across her lips, and she couldn't control it. More than that, she didn't want to.

**OR 4**

**10:00 A.M. **

"Let me just stitch up this bleeder, and Mrs. Road will be as good as new. Dr. Stevens, would you like to do the honor?"

"Really?" Izzie asked incredulously. Addison simply nodded. "Yes!" Handing over the instruments to Izzie, Addison caught a glance into the observation deck. In his usual corner, Derek was leaning against the wall. When their eyes met, he smiled down. She just nodded up at him: a smile wasn't very visible behind a mask.

"Excellent work, Izzie. Dr. Doughty, can you close please?" Addison asked, stepping back from the table.

"Of course Dr. Montgomery."

"Thank you. Izzie, follow me." Addison headed for the exit, Izzie following her. Derek left the deck to meet them.

"So keep an eye on Mrs. Road. Watch for elevated LFT's. Her high blood pressure concerns me."

"Sure thing Dr. Montgomery. And thank you again for the opportunity."

"You're welcome. You've earned it." Addison smiled at her intern as she dried her hands. Watching Izzie nearly literally bounce out of the room, Addison couldn't help but smile. Stepping over to the nurses' station, she grabbed the chart and began her post-op notes. Derek watching meant he had free time, and she could really go for coffee.

"Dr. Montgomery?" Olivia spoke.

"Yes?" Addison looked up.

"A man has been asking for you while you were in surgery. He said you two were old friends."

"Really? Where did he go?"

"He's in the waiting area right over there." Addison followed Olivia's gaze to the chairs. The smile she had faded almost instantly when she realized who was waiting for her.

"Thank you Olivia." Addison managed to speak through her suddenly dry-mouth. It was just her luck that as she looked over, James looked up and smiled. Grabbing his coat, he headed in her direction

"Hey. Great job in there." Derek said, coming up from behind her. When she didn't even move, he knew something was wrong. "Addie? What's wrong?" Derek followed her gaze to the man moving towards them.

"Hello Addison." The man spoke up, adjusting his coat and smiling at her.

"James, what are you doing here?" Addison asked, her inability to speak now filled her voice with anger. James shook it off, catching a glance at Derek. He was standing awfully close to just be a colleague.

"Hi, I'm James Martin. Addison's fiancée." James extended a hand to Derek. Addison looked infuriated, but Derek have her a reassuring smile as he extended a hand of his own.

"Derek Shepherd, Addison's boyfriend." Derek gave his hand a very strong shake.

"Boyfriend? Well, that's new." He said with a smirk.

"Oh please James, there's no way…" Addison's tone was clearly angry, and Derek didn't want her getting upset and losing her cool.

"Yes, boyfriend. And from what Addie tells me, you're more of an ex-fiancée. And that ex part sort of makes you irrelevant in her life now. So, if you'll excuse us, I have a surgery in an hour and would like to buy my girlfriend breakfast before then." Addison looked up at Derek un-believing, but smiled as he took her hand and walked towards the elevator. "Nice meeting you, though." Derek said over his shoulder. James shifted his coat in his hand, watching incredulously as they walked away. He could feel his blood boiling, but could do nothing about it. Not with Derek playing watch dog.

"Where did that come from?" Addison asked when they stepped into the elevator.

"What?" Derek asked.

"Such smugness. I've never seen that side of you." Addison said, wide-eyed at the shock.

"That's because it's reserved for bad people or people I really don't like. You fit neither of those categories, so you never see that side. Unfortunately for him, he fills both of those qualities."

"I hate to admit it, but that side of you is kind of a turn on." Addison said seductively, leaning him against the back wall.

"Yeah?" He asked, satisfied with the prospect.

"Yeah." She leaned in to kiss him.

"I'll keep that in mind." Derek cupped her face in his hands, kissing her again. The ding of the floor being reached pulled them apart. They headed out together, heading for the cafeteria. s

"Despite the excellent show you put on, I will have to face him eventually."

"This was just a band-aid so you wouldn't be overwhelmed. How do you feel about seeing him?" Derek asked as they casually skimmed the bagel selection. They still weren't officially "outed" in the hospital gossip, and weren't in the mood to rush it. In public, they were still just friends.

"At first, I was shocked. Then, very quickly, infuriated that he had the gall to come all the way here. Now, I'm a bit curious. I'm sure heard through the New York grapevine that I came back, but not to stay. He probably hopes I'm calm enough to talk to him without throwing things." Derek couldn't help but laugh a bit, but did his best to stifle it. "No, it's okay, laugh. I have good aim so I scared the crap out of him a couple of times." Adjusting herself in her seat, the smile faded slightly from Addison's face, no matter how hard she tried to mask it.

"You can be honest with me, Addie. If him being here bothers you, or brings back feelings, you thought were gone, you can tell me. I won't get upset. I want to be there for you." Addison looked up from the fruit salad she had been poking aimlessly at.

"Is 'I don't know' an acceptable answer?" Addison asked quietly.

"Yes." Derek reached out to cover her hand with his reassuringly.

"I just need some time to process everything. Now that you've bought me time, I can go hide in a corner and think and probably cry."

"Addie…"

"Derek, relax. Girls cry. It's what we do. It's therapeutic more than anything else. I promise you, I haven't been this happy, as I am with you, in years."

"Good to know." Derek said, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Page me when you finish your surgery and we can have an actual meal together."

"Okay." Derek watched Addison stand up and walk away. His eyes followed her until she was out of sight. Trashing his bagel, he suddenly lost his appetite.

**So, the big Addie/James, Derek/James showdowns will have to wait. I wanted to post this because it's been a little longer than I like to make my awesome readers wait in between updates. **

**Definitely tune in next time though: I have a tease for you all…**

**Punches will be thrown. And not by whom you expect. **

**So read, enjoy, and review as always. If I hit a magical number of reviews (that I've decided on) the next update will be very soon! So review- you could be the one!**


	15. I'm Gonna Punch You Out

**So…I was totally kidding when I called her fiancé James. His name is Jason. I named him that in chapter 7, and he will forever be called that. **

**I guess all my intense studying that went to my head. Shout out to TeamAddek for showing me the error of my ways. Glad you guys really do read and enjoy enough to remember what I can't. Now, on with the newest chapter that I thoroughly enjoyed writing, probably because Addison is my hero. **

**Read, review, and enjoy!**

**Seattle Grace**

**4:30 P.M.**

Ever since their attempt at breakfast, Derek talked to Addison all day. He hadn't even caught a glimpse of her in passing on the neonatal floor, where he always went when he missed her. And, on the day he wanted to most, the day he knew she needed him most, she was shutting him, and apparently the rest of the world, out. To say he had been distracted today would have been an understatement.

But, someone somewhere loved him, because upon checking on his early morning patient, he felt his blackberry vibrating on his waist. Excusing himself momentarily, he flipped it open and instantly smiled when he saw who had messaged him. Not to get too excited, Derek held off on reading it and quickly completed his exam of Mr. Ligtner's memory. Luckily everything was going well for his patient. Ordering Karev to pick up the labs for his other two new patients, Derek escaped to an empty corner to read.

**Basement**

**4:35 P.M. **

Derek became too impatient for an elevator and ended up jogging to the nearest staircase to reach Addison. Her message asked him to come to their "spot" in the basement when he had free time. In their attempts to keep everything on the proverbial down low, they had found a private spot in the rarely traveled to basement that had a few abandoned gurneys and some vending machines. It had become their escape from the hospital upstairs, and their place to unwind and indulge in each other. He should've known that's where she'd go to think. Turning the final corner, Derek surveyed the area, finding her propped up against the wall, her bare feet dangling over the side of the gurney, and eyes closed lightly. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed over him. He took a moment to just watch her. She looked peaceful, and conflicted, all at the same time.

"Hey." Derek said softly, not wanting to rush her out of her reverie. Addison quickly opened an eye and tilted her head in his direction.

"Hi." She returned with a small smile.

"Safe to approach?" He asked, pushing off the wall.

"I think so." Addison replied, sitting up and moving herself up a bit from the wall.

"Nice message." He joked, moving his blackberry into his lab coat pocket.

"Saved me a trip. And prevented me from seeing anyone I didn't want to, which right now, is everyone but you." Derek loosened up a bit more at that, smiling down at her and brushing some of her hair off her face.

"What gets me on the exception list?" He asked no louder than a whisper, leaving a hand lingering on her cheek. Addison's eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into his touch. She brought a hand to cover his. Taking it from her face, she held it in her own.

"Because you're the only one I can do this to…" Addison pulled Derek's coat and instantly covered his mouth with hers. Derek was surprised to the say the least, but before he could react and really get into it, she pulled back and rested her forehead on his, cradling her face in her palms. "And really, really enjoy it."

"Well, in that case, I'm happy to oblige." Derek leaned back in, softly teasing her lips before enveloping them in his. He could hear her soft moan of approval and was only encouraged to continue. Pulling back, Derek kissed her lightly on the forehead and smiled before taking the seat next to her. He patted his lap, motioning for her to lie down. Balling up her lab coat as a pillow, she smiled and leaned back.

"So, you've been persona non grada since breakfast." Derek said, finally breaking the silence between them.

"I know. I'm sorry. It wasn't totally intentional." Addison looked up, and upon seeing his etched brow, continued. "I was on the roof for awhile, then paced around outside a bit, checked on a few of my charges, and then came down here. Passed out for awhile, then I messaged you."

"Richard gave you the time away?" He asked nonchalantly, running his hand through her hair.

"I explained to him why I needed it. He understood, as long as I stayed on hospital grounds in case of an emergency. Derek nodded, deciding whether or not to ask the obvious question or let her bring it up on her own. Curiosity won out.

"So what did you think about in all that free time?" Addison smiled to herself, surprised it took him so long to ask.

"Everything, I guess. My mind wandered a lot. Thought about the past, the future, how different my life is from how I imagined it would be if you asked me six months ago." Addison sat up from Derek's lap and turned to sit cross-legged, facing him. "I mean, six months ago, I was in New York, had a private practice, and was engaged. And I thought 'Hey, that's it. This is going to be my life'. And I was fine with that. I was. I was happy and satisfied and ready to live the rest of my life with Jason." Derek nodded along, curious as to where she was going with it.

"Then, in one moment, everything came spiraling out of control. I came home to my brownstone, where I was supposed to meet Beth to finalize something insignificant for the wedding. And I got there, and I unlocked the door, and it just felt wrong. Something was different. I couldn't put my finger on it. I began to walk around, my usual post-work routine. I didn't even make it past the foyer. It just felt wrong. So I went upstairs and saw the bedroom door partially open. Moving closer, I could hear noises; moaning it sounded like. And I knew, right then and there, that everything was about to change." Addison took a deep breath in. Derek watched her silently. She had never really talked about that night with him, and he always hoped she would. He wanted to be there for her, in every way possible.

"It's okay. Keep going. It's good to talk about this." Addison just nodded and played with fingers a little more.

"In retrospect, I almost wish I trusted my instinct and didn't go in there. I could feel it would be bad, but I had to know for sure. I couldn't just accuse him after: I needed to see it with my own eyes. So I walked over and slowly opened it. They were a little involved so they didn't notice me at first. But I saw everything: my fiancé, in bed with someone else. Like a masochist, I just stood there frozen. All the air was gone from my lungs. If it weren't for her seeing me, I don't know if I could have stopped them on my own. As it was, Beth gasped and Jason moved off her. They both pulled the sheets around them tightly. I finally got my voice back, and all I could say was some stupid sarcastic remark. I knew if I said anything else I'd breakdown crying or get physically sick. So I just said it, turned back around, and bolted." Tears were welling up in her eyes by the time she finished. Derek quickly wrapped his arms around her. She was silent for a few moments, just hugging him back.

"You want to know the worst part? She didn't even look guilty. She didn't even look like she really cared I caught them; just pissed they didn't get to finish. I'll give Jason this much: he at least looked upset. He tried to run after me but since I hadn't really changed, all I needed was my keys. I went to Savvy and Weiss's. Stayed there for a few weeks. Jason came by twice to try and apologize. First time he didn't get through the door. Weiss made sure of that. Second time didn't go so well either. Things were thrown. I owed Savvy three new plates." Derek laughed at her attempt to lighten the mood.

"Well you have killer aim so I'm glad he's not dead." Addison laughed at that and sat up.

"But you know what rehashing all of this emotional turmoil has made me realize?" Derek shook his head. "I don't love him anymore. I've forgiven him, I think. But I could never forget it. I don't know that I could ever look at him the same way. And I'm not saying that cheating is the ultimate end all be all of every relationship. People make mistakes. No one's perfect. But when it came down to it, when I asked him why he did it, he couldn't answer me. It was like I wasn't home so he just scratched his itch with whatever was lying around."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." Derek said, rubbing her knee affectionately.

"Me too." She responded quietly, a tear falling from her eye. He moved his hand to wipe it away, along with the few others that fell along with it. Derek leaned in and kissed her forehead, simultaneously hugging her and pulling her to lean on him. She let him for awhile before pulling away.

"I'm sorry. I didn't call you down here to get all hormonal-girl on you I swear." She said, wiping away the rest of her tears on her own.

"It's okay. I don't mind. Come here." Derek motioned to himself. Addison looked at him, but he just smiled and motioned again. Standing, he shrugged out of his lab coat and tossed it onto the opposite gurney with hers. She lied down with her back to the wall. Derek kissed her temple as he carefully climbed over her to lay adjacent to her. His back against the wall comfortable, Addison melted into his stomach. He draped and arm across her waist and inhaled the scent of her hair. Luckily there was only one pillow, forcing them to share. Addison tightened his arm on her waist and allowed herself to relax, truly relax, for the first time all day.

"I don't deserve you." Addison whispered into the room as she allowed her eyes to close. Derek sat up slightly to whisper back to her.

"Yes you do. You deserve everything. Now let yourself relax. I'll be here when you wake up." Derek leaned over to kiss her cheek before settling back down next to her. Addison couldn't help but feel safe in his arms, a safety she hadn't felt in New York.

**Joe's Bar**

**9:00 P.M.**

Upon waking from their nap, Derek and Addison cuddled and talked for a little about his day before heading back into the real world. They decided to cancel their fancy dinner for the night. Addison owed Miranda a drink, and while Derek was an excellent ear, she needed actual girl-talk. Derek immediately agreed: while he wanted to spend the night with her, he owed Mark about a thousand drinks and resolved to meet up with him instead.

"I was beginning to think I got stood up." Miranda said, sipping at her drink.

"I apologize. After hiding for most of the day, I had some stuff to catch up on before Richard would let me free." Addison sat down next to her and got Joe's attention for a drink.

"Hiding?"

"You didn't notice? I'm hurt." Addison kidded, sipping her drink. Miranda shot her look and she just laughed more

"Come to think of it, Stevens was unattended whenever I saw her. Is there a reason you want my interns killing patients?"

"My ex-fiancée came for a visit. So I hid." The laughter in Addison's voice was gone. Miranda looked at her, surprised. That was the last thing she expected.

"So that's the man all the nurses were falling over. Tall, dark, handsome, and very out of place in Seattle with that Armani suit."

"Sounds about right. He must be doing business on the West Coast and thought it would be fun to torture me a little on his layover."

"Well what did he say when you talked to him?" Miranda enquired.

"We didn't actually talk. Smug Derek came to my rescue and I hid the rest of the afternoon to avoid him. Childish I know, I just wasn't ready to talk to him."

"Why?" Miranda asked bluntly. Addison looked up at her, amazingly confounded by one word.

"Because…because I have spent the last three months trying to forget him. The last time we talked, I felt so empty. So alone. And I never wanted to feel that way again. Coming here, and working at the hospital, and the life I've started here, I haven't. I've felt so good, so safe here. Sure I miss my friends and family in New York, but my life here is going well."

"And then there's Derek…." Miranda hinted. Addison smiled just thinking about him.

"And then there's Derek. He gave me a reason to be happy again. To realize that not all men are scum. To realize that it's okay to trust the non-scummy men with your heart and know they won't break it."

"So then why did you spend all of today avoiding your ex?" Miranda turned towards her.

"I needed to be sure." Addison looked her in the eye.

"Okay, going to need a little more than that."

"I needed to be sure that when I faced him, it wouldn't matter what he said to me. He could say he loves me, hates me, wants me back, whatever. It won't matter. Because I don't need or want him in my life anymore."

"Well aren't you Ms. Liberated today?" Miranda kidded, sipping at her drink.

"Hey, I try. I wasn't much of a doctor today, so at least I was something useful."

"Back to that, you let Stevens run wild on your service unsupervised all day? Why didn't you tell me? I would have moved her?"

"Because she's good Miranda. I see a lot of potential in her in neonatal. She completely held her own today according to my staff, and, assuming I have your blessing, would like to offer her a spot on my team, full-time."

"Yang may kill her, but I think that it will be great for Izzie."

"Why would Yang care?"

"She's one of the finest on my team, but a bit of a hot-head. Your reputation intrigues her. She's 'dying to get in on one of your surgeries'. And that is a direct quote." Addison laughed at Bailey using air quotes.

"I have a TTTS surgery tomorrow morning. Assign both Stevens and Yang to me. Izzie needs to learn and Yang can get her high of the day."

"You're too nice. You clearly haven't spent enough time around me." Miranda said with a serious face and Addison just laughed, finishing off her drink.

**Seattle Grace**

**9:00 A.M. **

"I still can't believe you pull for the Knicks." Mark said incredulously as he and Derek stood at the nurses' station.

"What? I know we've lived here a while, but I refuse to become a Sonics fan. My dad would have my head."

"You make me sick. The Knicks suck. At least the Sonics have a shot." Mark argued.

"They don't suck. They're just having a rebuilding…decade." Derek offered. Mark shot him a look, and Derek conceded to how bad his team was. "Whatever, it's fine. The Yankees still rule all."

"At least you haven't gone totally mental." Mark said. He noticed Addison leaving the locker room and heading their way. "I take that back." Derek looked at him confused. Mark just shook his head and looked at the chart in his hands.

"What?" Derek asked. All was understood when he felt hands circle his waist.

"And the goofy smile is back." Mark said sarcastically. Derek shot him a look and turned to face Addison. He was met instantly with a kiss.

"Good morning." She said as she pulled away, her hands now resting behind his neck.

"Apparently." He smiled down at her. "You realize that we are in public right?"

"Yes." She said, kissing him again.

"And that doesn't bother you?" He asked.

"Nope." Another quick kiss.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." One more kiss.

"So I'm going to say drinks last night went well." Derek offered, rubbing his hands across her waist. There were a couple of stares from co-workers, but he ignored them, focusing solely on her.

"Good guess. I did miss you though." Addison teased, smiling seductively at him.

"I missed you too. Mark's not nearly as much fun company."

"Still right here, thank you." Mark chimed in. They both looked at him and laughed.

"Not that I mind at all, but what has brought on this extraordinary good mood?" Derek questioned.

"I was sad enough yesterday. I'm putting the past behind me, and am ready to put my attention on to my life here in Seattle." Derek smiled at her, glad at what he was hearing. "With you." This time, Derek leaned in to initiate a kiss, cupping her face in hands and kissing her sensually. They separated, and had gathered quite the audience. Neither cared.

"Lunch?" Addison asked.

"Definitely." Addison smiled and walked away. Derek watched her go, and then surveyed the room. The hustle and bustle picked back up as everyone returned to work. Derek just shook his head.

"Secrets out." Mark spoke.

"Good. I'm glad." Derek said. Mark smiled at his happy friend, and caught someone looking at Derek with a death stare from behind him.

"Who is that guy?" Mark pointed to a man behind him and Derek turned, locking eyes with Jason.

"Addison's ex-fiancée." Derek said with anger.

"That's him?" Mark asked, and Derek could only nod. "I have a sincere urge to hit him. Is that normal?"

"Yes. Because I have the same urge." Derek's hand was making a fist, but he shook it off. Jason was heading this way, and he had a lot he needed to say to him, at least while he was still conscious.

"Problem, Jason?" And smug Derek was back. Mark stepped back, but kept an eye on the situation.

"I saw that little scene you just put on." Jason said angrily.

"Scene? What scene?" Derek played dumb.

"You were kissing my fiancée." Once again, general work around the station had stopped. All eyes were on them as people realized that Addison was engaged.

"No, I was kissing my girlfriend. Addison stopped being your fiancée the moment you were stupid enough to screw her best friend."

"Don't talk about things you know nothing about." Jason retorted.

"I know enough. There's one thing I need to ask you: are you an idiot?" Derek asked, a smug smile on his face.

"What?" Jason exclaimed.

"I'm serious. Because from where I'm standing, you'd have to be quite possibly the stupidest man alive to have someone as special as Addie in your life and then mess it up and break her heart."

"Shut up." Jason said sternly.

"No. I won't shut up. You hurt the love of my life. I have every right to want your head on a platter."

"The love of your life? You've barely been with her three months. You don't know what we had." Jason's voice was full of emotion.

"You're right. I don't know what the two of you had in New York, and we have only been together for three months. But as far as I'm concerned, that's irrelevant. Because we are going to be together for a lot longer than that."

"I know I made a mistake. But that doesn't mean there's no hope. I will get her back."

"No, you will try. And you will fail. Because you did make a mistake. One which you are paying for. But I can't say I'm mad. Your loss is my gain. Now if you'll excuse me, I have patients to attend to." Derek turned away from him to pick up a chart when Jason called out his name.

"Hey Derek." Derek spun back around begrudgingly, and was met with a fist to the face. He stumbled backwards, the chart falling to the floor as he went down with it. Two nurses and an intern went to Derek's aid as Jason watched him, shaking out his fist.

"Hey!" Mark exclaimed, slamming his own chart down and headed towards Jason, ready to punch him right back.

"Mark! Stop." Addison's voice rang out from the corner, where she had heard and seen everything. Mark stopped. All eyes were on her. She calmly moved towards them and bent down to check on Derek.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly. He nodded, checking out his bleeding forehead.

"Okay." Addison kissed his cheek and stood up, and turned to face Jason, fire in her eyes.

"Add, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Before Jason could say anything else, Addison's fist made contact with his face- hard. He stumbled a bit, but stayed on his feet, holding his face. Everyone watching looked on, shocked that she hit him.

"What the hell was that for?" He asked, clearly upset and surprised.

"That was for punching my boyfriend. And this is for me." Addison took him by the shoulders and firmly kicked him in the groin with her knee. He fell back in severe pain, landing on the side of the nurses' station. Straightening out her coat, she headed back towards Derek, who was still on the floor watching the scene in front of him. Bailey, who, along with her interns, saw everything, took control.

"Alright, everybody back to work!" Everyone ran in different directions, gossiping about what just took place. "Karev and O'Malley, take care of him. Get him a room and a chart. X-ray his face and a couple bags of ice may be required." She laughed lightly at the last part. They nodded, smiling as well, and headed towards Jason.

"Grey. Take Dr. Shepherd to a room. Set up a suture kit. Check for fractures." Meredith nodded, helping Derek to stand.

"I'll come with you and take care of the stitches. Can't leave my boy with any ugly scars." Mark moved towards him, pausing next to Addison to check out her hand. "Stevens, want to grab some ice for golden gloves over here?" Mark asked, checking out Addison's hand for fractures. Izzie nodded and went off. "Doesn't look broken. It's going to hurt for a bit though."

"I don't know how men do that." Addison said, shaking out her hand.

"We're just tougher." Addison shot him a look. "Hey, I'll give credit when credit's due. That was impressive."

"I picked up kickboxing class after what happened in New York. I found it a good way to get out my pent up frustration." Mark laughed. "I better go see Richard and explain. I'll find you boys when I'm done." Derek nodded and shed walked off, Bailey in tow. When she passed Derek, she gave his hand a light squeeze.

"How's your face?" Mark asked as they headed towards the exam room.

"Been better. I have a glass jaw."

"You know it's a good thing your girlfriend had your back. You went down hard, man."

"He caught me off guard." Derek defended himself, touching his cheek lately.

"I'm sure. You better watch out though. Don't get on her bad side."

"Don't worry, I won't. That looked painful." Mark joked, examining Derek's cheek.

"Yeah it did." Derek laughed with him, but winced when Mark touched the wrong spot. "But it was also a very big turn-on."

"Oh yeah!" Mark said, a little to enthusiastic for Derek.

"Watch it." He said sternly. "I don't want you thinking about her like that."

"Too late." Mark joked.

**Okay, I know, a bit abrupt. But I wanted to post this before heading back home from school tonight. **

**Leave me lots of fun reviews and I'll write a lot while I'm on break and have no homework!**

**I'm very proud of Addison for kicking Jason's butt. Just for the record. **


	16. What's McDreamy?

**So Addie kicked a lot of butt last time. Glad everyone caught my _10 Things _reference. That is a fantastic cinematic masterpiece. Everyone who hasn't seen it get on it. **

**This chapter gets the story back on the timeline of the show (roughly). **

**Hope you enjoy. And, considering I'm on spring break, I'll have more time to write so hopefully I can post more often. Fingers crossed and keep a look out. **

**Seattle Grace**

**10:00 A.M. **

"Here you go Dr. Shepherd. I thought you might need a new one." Meredith walked into the room, handing a new ice pack to Derek.

"Thank you Meredith." Derek smiled as he took the new pack and put it lightly on his cheek. Meredith tried her hardest not to stare at his adorably bruised face.

"You know, it usually works better when you put the ice directly on your face." Addison said from the doorway. Derek looked up and smiled.

"Well, it's really cold." Derek said slightly whiny, but with a very cute pout.

"I'm sure it is." Addison smiled, pushing herself off the doorway to enter the room. "Are your x-rays back?"

"I don't know. Meredith have you seen them?" Derek asked.

"Dr. Sloan said he was heading up there to speed them up." Meredith replied, trying to busy herself cleaning up and not eavesdrop.

"Classic Mark." Addison joked.

"I'm going to go get some fresh bandages for your forehead."

"Thanks." Addison said. Meredith smiled at her and headed out. Addison took the empty stool and rolled it to in front of the exam table where Derek sat.

"How are you feeling?" Addison asked, gently touching his face.

"It's nothing. I've always had a strong jaw." Derek said in an attempt to be macho.

"That's fortunate, because you went down really hard." Addison joked.

"He caught me off guard!" Derek said defensively. Addison kept touching, hitting the wrong spot, evident by Derek's wincing and falling backwards away from her.

"Stop being a baby." She was having none of that. Grabbing on to his scrub top, she pulled him forward back to her. Continuing to check for fractures, Derek kept wincing.

"Watch it! You know, I think Mark has a more sensitive touch than you." He said, firmly grabbing her hands to stop her from poking him anymore. They made eye contact and held it.

"I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you didn't get too injured on my behalf."

"I'm fine. Just a little sensitive. And a little bloody." Derek said, checking his gauze.

"I'll leave the bloody to Mark, but I may be able to do something about making your cheek feel better." Leaning forward, she cradled his face gently in her hands and softly brought her lips to his face, kissing on and around his bruising cheek. He leaned in to her touch, marveling in how soft and warm her mouth was. As she pulled away, she could feel his hands move to her waist in an attempt to keep her close.

"That help at all?" She asked quietly, moving some of the hair off his face.

"I don't know. Do it again." He said, rubbing her sides up and down slowly. She laughed lightly and kissed him on the cheek around his bruise again.

"How about that time? That help?" Addison asked.

"A little bit. But I think I may know what will really help." Derek said, leaning in to softly kiss her on the lips. Addison let him, but only for a moment.

"Easy there tiger. You're still bleeding and I promised Richard that I'd punish you for making me risk my hand to punch out my ex. I said I would, so you get no more kissing."

"That's not fair. I was defending your honor. That makes me a valiant and adorable boyfriend who deserves making out as a reward." He said pouting, but throwing her is usual charming smile to get her in the mood. Before she could respond, Mark came loudly back in.

"God, these tech guys kill me. All you got was an orbital series and you'd think I'd asked for a full body scan." Mark threw the slides on to the projector. Derek pouted more now that they were interrupted, and Addison just laughed.

"Saved by the bell." She whispered into his ear.

"Alright. Looks good. No fractures, which is impressive considering how hard you went down."

"I was caught off guard!" Derek exclaimed. Addison and Mark just laughed.

"Right. Whatever you say. If your girlfriend kindly moves, I'll stitch you up and you'll be on your way." Derek nodded.

"Do a good job. I want his beautiful face to stay beautiful and scar free." Addison smiled at Derek, gently petting his cheek. He smiled up at her adoringly.

"When do you know me to not do a good job?" Mark said defensively.

"Just being cautious. Scars are highly overrated, and you wouldn't want to be the one to give the nurses and interns a reason to stop calling Derek McDreamy now would you?" Mark laughed at the nickname, and Derek looked around confused.

"Who's McDreamy?" He asked. Addison's beeper went off before she could answer.

"You are babe." Addison responded, kissing his forehead. "Mark will explain it to you." Addison headed to the room phone to answer her page. Derek looked up expectantly.

"You've never heard this before?" Mark asked. Derek shook his head. "The interns of this year started it. They must think you're attractive, or 'dreamy' as the case may be. So they developed a nickname. It caught on like wildfire. I think every female in the hospital calls you it behind your back." Derek looked dumbfounded at the idea.

"Seriously?" He exclaimed. Mark just nodded as he prepped a lidocaine shot to numb his forehead. "You knew about this and never told me?"

"It's harmless. And I find it very amusing to be honest." Mark said, injecting Derek.

"Does it bother you?" Derek asked Addie as she hung up the phone.

"I guess not." She shrugged. "They only said it around me because they didn't know about us. I just keep my mouth shut and listen to them fall all over you. Besides, it's like a compliment for both of us."

"And how do you see this horribly embarrassing nickname as a compliment?"

"Well, for you, every female in this hospital, with the exception of Bailey probably, thinks you're extremely attractive. And since you're my boyfriend, I am, by proxy, dating the most attractive man in all of Seattle Grace." Addison smiled at Derek, who eagerly reciprocated.

"You might want to watch what you say. I hold in my hands the power to change all of that with one missed stitch." Mark interrupted.

"I'd love to stay and supervise, but my charming ex-fiancée is awake and asking for me."

"Are you okay with that?" Derek asked.

"Yes, I am. He won't leave until we talk, and I want him gone as soon as possible. I'll find you when I'm done to check on Mark's handiwork." Addison left the room. Derek watched her leave before turning his attention back to Mark.

"So tell me more about this McDreamy thing."

**Jason's Room**

**11:00 A.M. **

Addison stood outside Jason's room, waiting for Karev and O'Malley to finish up.

"How is he?" She asked when they approached.

"Besides the severe emotional trauma of getting beat up by a girl, he's physically fine." Karev said wisely. Addison shot him a look.

"O'Malley, if you could give me a medical answer, I'd really appreciate it." Addison said sternly.

"His face is fine. Just a bad bone bruise. We gave him ibuprofen for the pain. The kick did slightly more damage. Nothing lasting, but he's going to be very sore for at least the rest of today and tomorrow." George delivered, trying not to laugh.

"Thank you for taking care of him. You're free to go. Find Bailey. She'll give you your new assignments." Both men nodded and walked away. Addison took a deep breath before heading in.

"If it isn't Evander Holyfield in my hospital room? Can I get an autograph or something?" Jason said sarcastically, adjusting his position to maximum comfort.

"That's funny. You're a funny guy Jason. I almost forgot how funny you were these last few months when I was away from you."

"You were missing out. I'm a laugh riot. Want to hear another one? Good, because here it is. It's the story of a guy who made a monumental mistake and hurt the one person he loved the most in the entire world. He tries like crazy to apologize, talk to her rationally about what happened, and she just throws things at him. Then, he comes back to what was a very happy home to find half her stuff gone. No note, no nothing. He had to learn from her best friend that she moved across the country. He finally gets up the courage to go see her, only to learn that she's seeing someone else. Funny isn't it?" The room went silent as Addison and he locked eyes.

"No. You don't get to do this. You don't get to come all the way out here and punch out my boyfriend and try to guilt me into feeling bad for leaving you after what you did to me. Your little story has a lot of interesting pieces missing. Like that best friend who told you where I was- that was the best friend you _didn't _screw in _our _bed. And your idea of rational discussion was really you falling over your words when I asked you what on earth could make you do something that cruel to me! You don't know what it was like to come home after a long day and see what I saw and not kill you with my bare hands." Addison was now in tears, and Jason just looked at her, helpless and paralyzed.

"Addie, I'm sorry, sorrier than you could ever imagine. I'm sorry about Derek and punching him. And, while I know it's not the same situation, but when I saw him kissing you and touching you and doing things only I'm supposed to get to do to you, I overreacted."

"It's not a fun thing to see is it?" She asked. He simply shook his head no. Silence hung in the air between them.

"You're in love with him, aren't you? He's not just a rebound, or a fling, or payback. You actually love him." Jason asked, trying to hold back his emotions.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"You don't have to. I saw the way you looked at him. Its how you used to look at me." A few more tears fell from Addison's eyes. She could see the hurt on his face, and no matter whom much he hurt her, she couldn't guiltlessly do the same.

"Jason…I don't know what to say. I didn't come out here with the intention of falling for someone else. I just needed to get away. I was drowning in New York. Richard called me, and I impulsively packed and ran away as fast as I could. I never thought I'd stay here permanently."

"But you are….staying I mean." Jason questioned, although he very well knew the answer.

"Yes, I am." Addison said firmly.

"Does he make you happy?"

"Very much." She said with a small smile.

"And he's good to you? Keeps you safe, hands to himself?" Jason kidded.

"So far, so good." She smiled back.

"Good. Because I'd hate to have to punch him again."

"Don't worry. If he gets out of line, I'll take care of him." Addison said confidently.

"Oh, I have every assurance you will. My face and other sensitive body parts already got that lesson. Not that I didn't deserve it."

"You did, but I'm still sorry."

"Don't be. I realize now that I lost my shot with you a long time ago. Derek seems to make you happy, and that's all I want for you." Jason said sincerely.

"Thank you." Before Addie could say more, her pager went off. "I'm sorry, I need to take this. I have a very important case today that already got delayed because of this morning."

"No worries. I'll be good as new by tonight and on the first plane out of here tomorrow."

"Alright." Addison nodded and moved towards the door. Pausing halfway there, she turned back and walked towards his bed. Leaning down, she kissed him light and quick on the lips. "Goodbye Jason."

"Goodbye Addie." Addison headed towards the door, and after one more look, entered the hallway and gently closed the door of his room, and on that chapter of her life.

**Two Weeks Later**

**Seattle Grace**

**9:00 P.M. **

"Two minutes." Addison said emphatically as she entered her office to find Derek on her couch.

"Don't worry. Take your time." Derek replied, sitting up and leaning back against the cushions.

"I'm sorry. I know we said 8 but my surgery had complications and I wanted to make sure the mom was okay. And then my TTTS mom is being discharged tomorrow and is freaking out…" Derek came to Addison's desk where she was gesturing emphatically while she rambled. He stilled her hands, which also stilled her words. They made eye contact, and he smiled reassuringly.

"Babe, its fine. We're in no hurry. Chinese take-out and a movie aren't going anywhere." Addison nodded, and Derek leaned in to kiss her cheek before letting her go to finish getting ready. "I do think making me wait entitles me to pick the movie this time."

"I suppose I could agree to that. You have suffered through a multitude of romantic comedies on my behalf."

"Thank you." Derek said sincerely.

"I'm still going to argue that you enjoyed _You've Got Mail_. I saw that look when it ended." Addison shrugged into her coat.

"Excuse me. I did not enjoy a chick flick. It just wasn't as bad as the others." Derek reasoned.

"Sure. You know you like them. Just admit it."

"I like that you like them." Derek said romantically, trying to move the attention off the topic of his love for girl movies.

"Nice line. Defer attention from the truth." She joked, zipping up her laptop bag and walking towards him.

"Did it work?" He asked, snaking an arm around her waist.

"I think so." Addison said softly, leaning in for a kiss. Picking up his bag, they walked out of her office together and walked in stride towards the desk to sign out. Upon saying good night to the nurse at the station, Derek took Addie's hand and led her to the elevator. They entered and began to ride down. It stopped one floor down and a very well-dressed Miranda Bailey came on.

"Wow, Miranda you look amazing." Addison said whole-heartedly, taking in her entire ensemble.

"Thank you." Bailey replied.

"What's the occasion?" She questioned. "Hot date?"

"Sort of. An anniversary celebration actually."

"With who?" Derek asked, feeling like the only one left out. Addison and Miranda exchanged a look before answering him.

"Who do you celebrate an anniversary with?" Derek still looked confused. "Her husband, Derek!"

"You're married?" Derek looked shocked.

"He doesn't know?" Addie asked Miranda.

"He never asked." Miranda said pointedly.

"You've worked with her for three years and never asked if she was married?" Addison asked, hitting Derek on the arm.

"What? She's the Nazi. I just assumed she was single." Derek tried to defend himself.

"Men!" Addison said to Miranda, rolling her eyes. The elevator opened to the lobby, and all three stepped out.

"Have a great time tonight Miranda." Addison said.

"Thank you. Keep him in line." Miranda replied, motioning to where Derek stood behind them.

"I'll try." Miranda nodded and walked off to meet her husband. Derek came up behind her, sliding his free arm around her waist. They watched the happy couple embrace through the window.

"So the Nazi's really married?" Derek said, still looking forward.

"Yep." Addison replied, looking forward as well. Covering Derek's hand with her own, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Ready?"

"I've been ready since 8." That earned Derek an elbow to the ribs as Addie walked away. "Kidding." He called after, catching up easily and throwing an arm across her back.

**Addison's Apartment **

**9:30 P.M. **

"I'm still confused." Derek exclaimed as Addison unlocked her door.

"About what sweetie?" Addison asked as she hung up her coat and began to rifle through her mail.

"How, on the one night I get to pick the movie, we still end up with something starring Meg Ryan?" Addison laughed as she kicked off her heels and headed towards him.

"Well, there are a couple of reasons." She started, taking the food from his hand and placing it on the counter. "One, whether or not you'll admit it, you like my romantic comedies."

"I see." Derek nodded, smiling as she felt her hands pushing his coat off his shoulders.

"Number two, this late at night, we need something relaxing, not intense. It's been a long day." She continued, working her way back over to him.

"That is has." Derek said, voice deep as he watched her move around in front of him.

"And three…" Addison moved her hands to his chest and slowly began to work on the buttons. "You knew I would enjoy it."

"Yes I did." Derek said, trying to maintain some semblance of control in his voice.

"And if I was happy, I'd want to show my appreciation." Addison leaned in and kissed him, barely letting their lips touch for more than a second. When she could sense him wanting more, she slid her hands around his head and pulled him close, her tongue sliding into his mouth to meet his. Derek eagerly responded, his hands threading through her hair to hold her close.

"How hungry are you?" He asked huskily, trailing kisses down her neck.

"For food?" She asked with a smile. He nodded against her skin, not once stopping his mouth. "I could wait an hour if that's what you really…" Addison didn't have time to finish before Derek's lips were on hers again. "….wanted." Derek pulled away and nodded emphatically at her.

"Let me just put the food in the fridge so we can have it later." Addison attempted to pull away from him but his hold didn't release. She leaned in and kisses him once more. "Two seconds." She smiled up at him as she headed for her refrigerator. Derek took the time to kick off his shoes and empty his pockets.

Walking back towards him with a smile, Derek wasted no time. As soon as their lips touched again, his hands were at her waist, lifting her in the air. Carefully, he began to walk towards her bedroom. His hand was fiddling with the knob when a pager rang through the apartment. It was quickly followed by a second one: a sure fire symbol that it was an emergency. Derek reluctantly pulled back and rested his head on the door behind her.

"I told you to leave the food out." He joked. She laughed against his hair. Kissing her quickly once more, Derek gently set her down. They walked back to the kitchen, and checked their pagers.

"911." Addison said.

"Mine too." Derek agreed. They both began to get redressed, although it didn't take long since they hadn't gotten too far. Derek got his coat on and helped Addison with hers. Dialing as they drove, Addison got in touch with the hospital after three tries to find out the situation.

"What is it?" Derek asked.

"Mass casualty incident. Someone tried to out run a train and failed." Addison said solemnly. Derek just nodded, picking up the pace of the car significantly.

**So, for those who couldn't tell, I set up the end of this chapter as the beginning of my version of "Into You Like a Train". Granted because Meredith is irrelevant in my story, there will be no undertone of MerDer's relationship with the patient on the pole. Instead, we will see a different side of Derek, and how his relationship with Addison affects how he deals with patients, especially this very emotional one. **

**Stay tuned…it should be a doozy. **

**Oh yeah, and reviews are cool. **


	17. If Love Were Enough

**This chapter will be the AU take on "Into you like a Train". **

**Keep in mind that it will be different because of the status of Addek. I hope you enjoy the changes. I think that it is an interesting spin, particularly on Derek's character and his reaction to telling the fiancée everything. Obviously, the words no longer apply to Meredith (THANK GOD!)**

**On with the story. Oh yeah, review!**

**Seattle Grace**

**10:30 P.M. **

Derek and Addison approached the hospital to find it in utter chaos. Ambulances were coming from all directions, flooding the ambulance bay. Upon showing the security guard their I.D.'s, they were allowed to pass through. Unfortunately, inside was no better. Gurneys, patients, and doctors were running everywhere. Richard stood in the middle, doing his best to direct people to where they had to be.

"Thank God you two are here. Addison, curtain 1, pregnant woman with second degree burns. Shepherd, start with exam 3, he's one of the worst." Both nodded at their boss and headed in opposite directions.

"Nurse Kohl, what have we got?" Addison asked, motioning for the chart.

"Brooke Neil, 31 year old, third semester burn victim." Addison nodded and handed back the chart.

"Brooke, I'm Dr. Montgomery. I'm going to be taking care of you tonight."

"Hi." Brooke shakily responded.

"Have you had any contractions tonight?"

"No. Is my baby okay?" Brooke asked, tears slowly falling.

"Fetal heart monitor looks good, but we're going to do more extensive tests when we get upstairs okay?" Addison said reassuringly. Upon noticing Bailey and her interns enter the E.R., she called for her attention.

"Dr. Bailey can I get some help over here?" She called out, assessing more of the burns on Brooke's stomach. All the interns' hands instantly shot up.

"Uh Stevens, go!" Bailey shouted over the commotion of the room. Izzie did a mini-celebration and ran to the patient.

"Nurse Kohl, Izzie can you get Brooke upstairs while I change into scrubs?" Both nodded and began to wheel her out of the room. Addison looked around, trying to find Richard. It was made relatively easy since he was currently bickering with her boyfriend.

"Derek, there's been a mass casualty incident. I need to be operating tonight." Richard said firmly.

"You're not cleared yet. And I can't clear you without a proper neurological exam."

"There isn't time." Richard countered.

"Fine. Then I'm going with you. Or I'm fired. You pick." Derek stood his ground.

"Let's go." Derek smirked at winning the battle and began to follow Richard out of the room.

**O.R. 3**

**11:00 P.M. **

"Pick-ups." Richard called to the nurse.

"Suction over here please." Derek asked, assisting Richard with the re-attachment of a severed leg. He was trying to keep the field of vision clear so Richard could work, all the while watching him for any mistakes or blurry vision on his mentor's part.

"You know Derek, if you're going to watch me, you could at least be a little subtle." Richard said in a low tone, not missing a step in cleaning away the debris.

"Yes sir." Derek continued to assist Richard until a pager began to ring throughout the O.R. One of the dry nurses picked it up.

"Dr. Shepherd, it's yours." Derek looked up at Richard, seeing him squinting a bit under the intensity of the light.

"It can wait." Derek said, facing his attention back to the table.

"Derek, you're the only attending neurosurgeon and clearly needed elsewhere. Go. I'm fine."

"Alright, page me if you need me. I'm serious Richard. Anything." Derek threw off his gloves and gown and left the O.R. Entering the observatory room, he was literally stopped in his tracks.

"Oh my god." Derek said, barely audible, but loud enough that all the doctors in the room turned around. Quickly regaining his bearings, Derek headed to the screens. "These people are still alive?"

"They're making small talk." George chimed in.

"Unbelievable." Derek said, amazed.

"T8 is completely crushed on him." Bailey noticed.

"And it appears to be going directly through her aorta." Burke added.

"Is there anyway to operate without separating them?" Meredith chimed in.

"No."

"We'll have to remove the poll then right?" George questioned.

"Can't. They'll both bleed out." Burke responded.

"What if we don't move the pole, just move them enough to saw between it? Then slowly move the pole so we can repair the damage as we go." Derek offered.

"So who do you move?" George asked.

"With her aortic injuries, her chances of survival are extremely slim no matter what we do. But if we move her, we have a real shot of saving him." Burke stated.

"I disagree. Since her injuries are more severe, move him. Give her the best shot we can. She needs all the help we can offer." Derek countered. Meredith watched him as discretely as possible, feeling a sense of indescribable warmth that he would want to help the underdog. He was seriously like a real-life prince charming.

"Regardless of who you chose though, whoever you don't choose stands no chance." George stated the obvious, getting the stares of everyone in the room. Derek nodded, his face emotionless. Heading from the room, the pack of other doctors followed behind him.

"I'd like to examine them myself before I offer up a definite opinion if that's alright." Derek said to Burke.

"Of course. Page me as soon as you're sure." Derek nodded.

"Grey, O'Malley get them back to a room, very carefully. I'll be right behind you to examine them myself." George and Meredith left the hallway to retrieve their patients. Derek ran his hands through his hair, watching his patients being moved out. They were talking and laughing, no clue how severe their injuries were.

**Neo-Natal Floor**

**12:00 A.M. **

"Brooke!" A pregnant patient entered the exam room where Addison and Izzie where caring for their patient. Alex entered quickly after her.

"Jana? Thank God you're okay." Brooke cried out. The two embraced while Addison pulled Alex aside.

"Dr. Karev, please tell me that she's had a full work-up and has been medically cleared and you just left her wheel-chair at the door. Please tell me that." Addison asked, rubbing her eyes.

"She wanted to check on her friend. I couldn't stop her."

"You couldn't stop her?" Addison repeated. "That's great Karev. Really. Dr. Stevens please get our newest patient into bed. Dr. Karev you are excused. Go back down to the pit and help out." Alex left the room, clearly upset. Addison turned back towards her patients, assisting Jana into her bed.

"He didn't mean any harm." Izzie tried to defend Alex.

"It doesn't matter what he intended Izzie. It is about what's best for our patients. They have to come first." Addison spoke curtly to Izzie. She nodded in understanding.

"I'd like blood work and an ultra-sound for Jana. And page Dr. Sloan for Brooke. I want these burns looked at ASAP." Addison said, her tone much softer.

**Scrub Room**

**1:00 A.M. **

"Dr. Grey, Dr. O'Malley." Derek greeted his interns as he entered the scrub room. Tying on his cap, he watched his patients continuing to joke with one another. "O'Malley, can you make sure that they're anesthetized as soon as possible. The longer we wait, the worse there chances are."

"Yes sir." George said, leaving the scrub room. Watching as they went under, Derek finally began to scrub. Meredith continued to scrub, trying her hardest to think of a way to break the awkward silence.

"I can't imagine what it must be like to have to choose between them." Meredith blurted out.

"What?" Derek asked, looking up confused.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry. I'm just saying that it takes a lot to do what you're doing tonight. And I can't imagine having to do that one day." Derek stared at her, considering what she was saying.

"You're not prying." Derek smiled at her. "And as far as making decisions like this, you just need to trust your instincts. You're going to make an excellent doctor from what I can see Meredith."

"Thank you Dr. Shepherd." She smiled back at him. Heading into the O.R. first, Derek continued to scrub, watching the scene in front of him, praying to a higher God that this went well.

**Waiting Room**

**3:45 A.M. **

Derek and Miranda moved to the waiting room, steps heavy from the pain of what they were about to do. Scanning the room, they quickly found Bonnie's fiancée.

"Danny?" Derek asked.

"Yes?" Danny sprung up and out of his seat.

"I'm Dr. Shepherd. This is Dr. Bailey. We were the primary doctors on Bonnie's case."

"How is she?" He eagerly asked. Derek took a deep breath before delivering the news.

"I'm so sorry to have to tell you this Danny, but, even with our best efforts, she didn't make it." Derek fought his voice from cracking as he watched Danny's face turn to utter sadness.

"Did she suffer?"

"No, no. Her injuries prevented her from feeling any pain. I promise." Derek responded.

"Good. I mean, that's good." Danny said, tears slowly falling.

"Before we put her under anesthesia, she asked me to pass along a message to you just in case." Derek paused, having trouble speaking. "She wanted me to tell you that if love were enough, she'd still be here with you." Danny nodded slowly and stood up. Derek watched him go, and then headed towards the elevator with Bailey.

**Locker Room**

**4:00 A.M.**

Derek entered the locker room trying to maintain some semblance of control. Crying in front on Miranda Bailey was one thing. He just wanted to find Addison, get home, and finish his emotional breakdown in private. Not seeing her in there, he headed to his locker. Upon opening it, he first saw the picture of him and Addison: she taped it up there after he made a comment one night about her HS boyfriend who Derek could never stand. He had gotten a picture of the two of them in his locker back then, and Derek was slightly jealous. The next day, he found that with a cheesy "Addison loves Derek" post-it on top of her favorite picture of the two of them.

Seeing the picture made something inside Derek snap. He started slamming his locker closed with all the strength in his body. When it came back, he just slammed it again harder.

"Derek!" He was so in to his emotional release that he didn't hear her calling his name until she was shouting it. Derek turned to face her, distraught and pain evident in his face. Addison quickly made her way to him. He quickly hugged her to him.

"I just heard. I'm so sorry." She said, running her hand through the hair at the back of his neck in an effort to soothe him. "It's okay, just breathe honey." Derek tightened his grip on her body, taking in the familiar smell of her hair. After a while of just holding each other, Derek pulled back enough to look at her face. They made eye contact as Derek pushed some of the hair that had fallen across her face to behind her ear.

"Do you want to come back to my place?" She asked softly. Derek nodded mechanically at her. Addison let go of his hand to gather her stuff. Derek followed close behind, eager to get some place where he could be alone with her.

**Addison's Apartment**

**5:00 A.M. **

Addison opened the door to her apartment, Derek close behind. They hadn't talked much on the way home: Derek's mind seemed elsewhere and she didn't want to push. Uncharacteristically just tossing her jacket on a chair, she headed to the kitchen for two water bottles from the fridge. Tossing one to Derek, she opened hers and popped two aspirin. Derek took a small sip of his before setting it back down on the counter.

She watched as he walked to her front door, double locking it. After their long shifts, they rarely remembered, or had the effort, to lock it. Building was safe, 24 hour door man, the usual. But tonight, Derek seemed to want the rest of the world out. Addison unplugged her phone as he walked back over to her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Addison asked softly, placing her hands on his chest. He heard her speaking, but couldn't make out the words. All he heard were Bonnie's words, playing on a painful repeat in his head. Shutting his eyes, he willed them away. Running his hands up and down her arms gently, he made eye contact and shook his head no. Cupping her face in his hands, he leaned in to kiss her, conveying in that everything he needed. Pulling back from her, they made eye contact again.

"Are you sure this is what you need?" She asked, voice shaky. Derek didn't verbally respond, but kissed her again, much deeper.

"I just need to be close to you." Addison nodded and leaned in to meet him halfway. They kissed again, his tongue slowly working its way into her mouth. She let this go on for about thirty seconds before pulling away. Reaching for his hand, she led him into her bedroom.

Her attempt to release his hand failed, so they walked in tandem to the windows to shut the blinds and keep the morning sunlight out. While she reached up for them, one of Derek's hands found her waist while the other brushed the hair from her shoulder so he could kiss her neck. She leaned back in his arms, letting him do what he wanted to her, whatever would help him feel closer to her. He methodically touched his lips to every inch of her neck.

Delicately turning her in his arms, their eyes locked momentarily before Derek reconnected their mouths. Addison's hands made their way to his head, running her hands through his wavy locks. Taking over slightly, she started to walk him backwards towards the bed. When they were close, she stopped walking and pushed gently on his shoulders until he got the message to sit. He attempted to pull her down with him, but she locked her knees to resist.

Derek looked up at her confused. Addison simply smiled reassuringly in return, holding his face in her hands as she gently brought her lips down to his once again. As they kissed, her hands wandered down his chest to the hem of his sweater, only breaking their kiss to lift it over his head. Her hands worked their way up and down his chest and back. Moving her lips down his jaw to his favorite spot behind his ear, Derek's hands lifted her top off her body. Throwing it aside, he began to work on the zipper of her skirt, gently moving it over her backside and legs so she could step out of it.

Moving her hands to the belt of his slacks, she pulled it smoothly from the loops. While she was leaning in close, Derek took advantage of the newfound skin exposed to him and moved his face to kiss everywhere he could. As he continued to kiss his way up and down her torso, his hands found her knees and pulled her into his body, affording him the opportunity to flip them over so that he was now on top of her. Stepping out of his pants and kicking them aside, he eagerly followed her lead as she moved towards the center of the bed.

Leaning back against the pillows, she gazed up at Derek hovering over her. She ran a hand over his face, brushing back his hair.

"I love you." Addison whispered. Derek leaned in to her touch momentarily before reaching up and taking her hand into his. He kissed her fingertips, palm, and worked his way up her arm until he reached her mouth. He kissed her once before moving his lips down her jaw.

"I love you so much baby." Derek whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around her back. Letting his face linger on the side of hers, he took a minute, listening to her breathe in and out. He never imagined that he would find her heartbeat so soothing, so reassuring. But after the events of a few hours before, it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

**So I wrote most of this chapter from about 9-4 last night so I apologize if it's a little choppy. **

**Next up for our favorite twosome will be a little intern-centered angst. I'm sure you can guess which intern could be causing them trouble. **

**Review!**


	18. No Anesthesia Needed

**So I was totally kidding about the intern-angst. It's certainly coming, just not yet. I had a change of heart and wanted to include a Thanksgiving episode with happier Addek (and of course hot sex). **

**As always, hope you all enjoy and review if you're in the mood. I love concrit- if there is something you want to see happen to them, let me know and I will consider it fully!**

**Seattle Grace**

**11:00 A.M. **

"Mom, its not that I don't want to come. You know that. It's just hard. The holidays are my busy season. Increased time with family seems to mess with people's brains." Derek said as he fiddled with a pen on his desk.

"I gave you a pass last year because you had that emergency cranio-whatever at the last minute. I was very understanding. This year, you will be here." Patricia Shepherd ordered her only son.

"Mom…" Derek prepared to mount his next argument. It wasn't that he didn't want to go home and see his parents and four darling sisters. This was just his first year with a serious girlfriend and he was looking forward to spending it with Addison.

"Don't even start. Kathleen is flying her husband and three young children down from Massachusetts. Nancy has already cleared her schedule, Allison is driving down from the city and staying the weekend, and Julie is coming all the way from D.C. with her two kids. All you need to bring is yourself. And of course Addison." Patricia spoke assertively from the other end of the phone.

"You don't expect me to subject her to a Shepherd thanksgiving this early on in our relationship do you? I actually really like her and would like to stay with her."

"That's funny sweetheart. It really is. I always loved Addison when you kids were friends in high school. I was glad you and Mark had someone to keep you in line. I'm sure she'll love to come. Besides, you'd be a pretty bad boyfriend if you ditched her in a new city your first year together."

"You're very conniving mother. I never realized."

"I try. So, I'll see you both Thursday, promptly at 3:00. You know how we start the festivities early. Bring wine if you can."

"I'm going to need something stronger than wine if you want me to make it." Derek joked.

"Don't worry. Your father has already bought the scotch you two enjoy so much. He's very much looking forward to seeing you."

"Good. I'll run it by Addison later."

"Excellent. See you soon sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too." Derek said back before hanging up the phone. Running a hand through his unruly hair, he leaned his head against the desk, not noticing Addison in his doorway.

"Should I be concerned about you making proclamations of love towards another person?" Addison asked with a smile, leaning in the doorway of his office. Derek looked up at the sound of her voice, extremely happy to see her.

"Person? Couldn't you just safely assume woman?" He replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Hey, I've seen how some of the males on our staff check you out. I wanted to be politically correct." Derek's smile dropped, and Addison couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow. You're not even slightly funny. At all."

"Yes I am. Mark would have found that hilarious." Addison shut the door and wandered closer to his desk.

"He's Mark. He's a 12 year old trapped in a man's body." Derek said with a smirk.

"True. But he finds me funny. So I like him." Derek moved his chair over so that Addison could lean against the desk.

"He has bad taste." That earned him a slap. Derek laughed. "And, to set the record straight, that was my mom I was talking to just now."

"Patricia? No way! I used to love hanging out with your mom while you and Mark beat each other up in the living room. How is she?" Addison asked excitedly.

"She's…exhausting." Derek leaned forward to rest his head on her lap. Addison giggled and ran her hands through his hair.

"No she's not. I'm sure you were just being difficult." Addison replied, gently massaging his scalp. Derek popped his head up momentarily to shoot her a look. "You're always difficult." Derek resigned that as true enough and put his head back down. They stayed silent for a moment, Addison continuing to run her hands through his hair and Derek gently massaging her calves as he contemplated how to broach the subject.

"How high is your tolerance for pain?" Derek blurted out.

"Excuse me?" Addison lifted his head off her lap to show her confusion.

"My mom called to invite us to Thanksgiving at the house in Connecticut. Well, you were invited; I am being forced against my will."

"Seriously?" Addison asked, crossing her arms.

"Yep. I had to miss last year for an emergency surgery and this year is apparently a blow out. She has already wrangled all my sisters and their husbands and their kids already, somehow. I'm the last on the list."

"Wow. Well I do remember your mom being very persuasive and good at getting her way."

"Always. But this is going to seriously be utter chaos. My family has only gotten crazier with age, which only gets worse around the holidays." Derek rambled on.

"It sounds perfect." Addison spoke when Derek came up for air. Derek looked at her in shock.

"Have you not been listening? Chaos!" Derek emphasized.

"Do you not want me to come with you?" Addison questioned.

"No! No of course I want you to come. I can't imagine going without you, especially since it's our first thanksgiving together." Derek smiled up at her, and she reciprocated. "It's just… my family is a lot to take in and I don't want to scare you off or put you through the wringer that comes from having four very protective older sisters. Not to mention…" Addison leaned forward, placing two fingers softly over his lips to quite him.

"Honey, I would love to spend Thanksgiving with your family, crazy or not. If they're your family, I'm going to enjoy myself. And I have some practice dealing with protective women. Don't you worry." Addison touched his nose gently and pulled her hand away. Derek quickly grabbed her hand back and yanked on it lightly, motioning for her to sit in his lap. Addison glanced at the closed door before giving in and moving over. Derek smiled dreamily at her and kissed her softly.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He asked, resting his hand on her cheek.

"I know." Addison leaned in to kiss him again. Pulling back, she leaned her forehead against his. "And for the record, you couldn't scare me off if you tried."

**Four Days Later **

**Seattle Grace**

**2:30 P.M. **

"You paged?" Derek asked as he approached the nurses' station where Addison was.

"Three times. Where have you been?" Addison asked, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry. Busy day." Derek said only half paying attention as he was busy texting away on his blackberry.

"I'm sure." Addison put her hand over the screen, silently asking for his full attention. He looked up at her, and, seeing she was annoyed, but away his PDA.

"What do you need Addie?" He asked with a smile. Addison just shook her head and grabbed a chart.

"Denise Lussier, 31 years of age, having headaches and occasional blindness in her right eye. She's seven months pregnant. She miscarried twice before, but the baby is doing well so I'm hopeful she'll make it all the way."

"What did the scans show?" Derek asked, skimming the chart.

"Not back yet." She responded.

"So then why am I here?"

"Because her blood levels show that she has what is undoubtedly a tumor of some kind, is scared out of her mind, and deserves to talk to someone in the specialty of her problem." Addison replied, confused as to Derek's attitude towards the patient.

"Alright." Derek resigned, not in the mood to start with her. "What room?"

"2420." Derek started off, a confused and pissed off Addison behind him. They arrived at the room together and she introduced him to the patient.

"Denise, I'd like you to meet Dr. Shepherd. He's the head of our neurological department."

"Hi Denise." Derek greeted her.

"Hello." Denise responded, her voice shaky with nerves. Derek's pager went off before he could say more. Glancing up at Addison quickly and seeing the 'don't even think about it' look he knew so well, he ignored the page.

"I've asked Dr. Shepherd to stop by and answer any of your questions about the symptoms you have and what they could mean for your pregnancy." Addison handed the floor over to Derek.

"Now typical ailments that cause the symptoms you describe range anywhere from a hematoma to a tumor. Until your scans come back, we won't know what we're dealing with." Derek's pager went off again, interrupting him. He knew that this meant his scans were back on his new admit.

"However, I assure you that I am one of the best in the neurosurgery field. I have another patient to attend to, but we I'll try and stop back later when your scans are back to talk more." Derek smiled reassuringly and stood up from the bed. Heading for the door, Addison told Denise she'd be back and followed Derek out.

"My scans are back on my new patient and its urgent. I'm sorry." Derek didn't wait to see her facial expression, simply leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll see you for dinner tonight at my place when you get off." Derek headed down the hallway. Addison turned to watch him go, a surprising amount of rage and anger inside of her at how he just treated her, and worse, how he blew off her patient.

**Derek's House**

**9:00 P.M. **

Derek was in the kitchen preparing dinner for him and Addie when he heard a knock at the door. Checking his watch, he noticed how late she was.

"Hey." Derek greeted her.

"Hi." Addison responded coolly.

"You're later then you said you'd be. Get held up at the hospital?" He asked, stepping to the side so she could come in.

"Nope. I was done at 7." She responded shortly.

"So then what took so long?" Derek shut the door and headed back towards the kitchen.

"You see at first I was going to stand you up because I was so upset with you, but then I decided yelling at you would make me feel a whole lot better." Addison spat angrily, following him to the kitchen but keeping her distance.

"What did I do?" He asked naively.

"Let's start with you ignoring my pages, and then when you finally answer one, you blow off my patient like she was nothing to you."

"I didn't blow her off. You didn't have anything for me to talk to her about." Derek defended himself.

"Oh that's crap. You had her labs, which all suggest cancer. Plus, the blindness suggests location. You chose to ignore her." Addison argued back.

"So, what? I'm supposed to just inform her of every ailment that could result from those symptoms? There are a million things it could be."

"You still don't get it do you?" She asked, amazed. His blank look was answer enough. "This is her third pregnancy, the first two miscarried. She's seven months along, so close to everything she's ever wanted. Now, she can't see and may have cancer. She is terrified to death and all I was asking of you was to sit with her for half an hour and put her mind at ease. Answer the stupid questions all neurosurgery patients have. Assure her that you will do everything you can. And you couldn't even do that."

"Addie, until I know more about her condition, that's all irrelevant. And I had a very high profile surgery to get to. A patient's whose problem I knew and could actually solve."

"High-profile, huh? So because she was just some scared, pregnant woman she wasn't worth your precious time? God you neurosurgeons are all the same: egotistical, pompous, and generally full of yourselves." Addison turned on her heel and walked towards the door.

"So because I didn't sit with your patient, we are now in a fight." He called after her.

"Yeah pretty much." Addison shouted back, hand on the door knob. "But mostly, it's the side of you I saw today when you blew her off is why we're in a fight." Slamming the door behind her, Addison made her way down the steps of his porch and to her car. Derek came to the window to watch her drive away, angry at her for being so pissed off about this. Heading back to the kitchen, he poured himself a scotch and downed it. Pacing around the living room, her words kept playing in his head like a bad movie. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more he realized how much of an ass he had been earlier.

**Seattle Grace**

**8:30 A.M. **

Addison finished up her post-op notes on her first patient of the day, a very successful c-section of twin boys. Heading up to her wing, Addison waited for Izzie to start rounds. Noting the time, she wanted to check on Denise, see how she was taking in the news from yesterday and do her best to answer her questions. The fact that Derek was such an ass still had Addison pissed off. She had hardly slept, and was downing her third cup of coffee of the morning. Approaching the room, she was surprised to hear multiples voices. Peering in, she saw Derek standing by the light board. Addison paused outside the door to listen.

"Now do you see the spot right here?" Derek asked, pointing to the front area of her brain on the C.T. scan. Denise nodded, and he continued. "That is what has caused your blindness and headaches."

"So I have cancer?" Denise asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"Yes, you do." Derek took a seat on the bed, holding her chart in his hand. "However, there is good news. The location and size of the tumor are within operable boundaries. I've done procedures like this multiple times to amazing success."

"Okay." She responded, voice shaky.

"It's alright to be scared. But I'm the best. And I'm going to take very good care of you." Derek smiled reassuringly and dreamily at her.

"Dr. Montgomery said you were the best."

"That's just because she likes me." Derek joked, and Addison smiled from outside. "But yesterday I wasn't. I apologize for being so short with you and rushing out of here."

"It's alright. I'm used to guys bailing on me." Denise said, eyes on her hands.

"The father's not in the picture?" Derek asked quietly.

"Not so much. It's just me and the baby all by ourselves. Which is fine. I'm more than ready and capable of raising a child. I'm just scared to go through all of this stuff before alone."

"You're not alone. Dr. Montgomery may be modest, but she's truly the finest in her field. She's going to take extremely good care of you until you deliver. I'll be here too, brain surgery and all. I'll even be there to help with the birth if you'd like a familiar face." Derek offered.

"That would be really nice. Thank you Dr. Shepherd." Denise smiled for the first time all morning.

"It's not a problem at all. I better go though. If Addison finds out I had you up this early, she'll hurt me." Addison laughed lightly outside the door. Walking away before he saw her eavesdropping, she couldn't help but be impressed with how selfless he had been with Denise, coming in two hours before his first surgery just to make her feel better and even offering to go the extra mile and be there for the birth.

"I'll be back to check on you later. We'll operate as soon as Dr. Montgomery clears the baby."

"Thank you Dr. Shepherd." Derek smiled down at her, patting her hand reassuringly before heading out the door. Making his way to the nurses' station, he wrote down a few notes and handed this back to the nurse to file for Addie's rounds later on. Putting his pen back in his pocket, he didn't see Addison come up next to him.

"Hi." She said.

"Hey. Listen…" He responded. He opened his mouth to talk more, but got cut off.

"Come with me." She grabbed his arm and pulled him with her to the empty exam room across the hall. Shutting the door behind them, she released his arm.

"If you're going to yell…" Before Derek could finish apologizing, Addison had back him up against the door and enveloped his lips in a very passionate kiss. Pulling away, Addison distanced herself from him slightly.

"You realize I was about to apologize. I guess I don't need to?" He asked confused, raising an eyebrow at her as if to ask 'what the hell did that mean?'

"No you do. To me for ignoring my pages." Addison motioned to herself, stepping back forward with a smile. Derek smiled back.

"So you heard me talking to Denise?" Derek asked with a sly grin on his face. Addison nodded.

"That, just now, was for coming in early when you didn't have to and explaining to Denise everything about her surgery and openly apologizing for ignoring her yesterday."

"I didn't just do it so you'd forgive you me Add." He said honestly.

"I know."

"I heard everything you yelled at me last night. You were right. I should never have been so short and ignored her. And I wanted to make retribution for my error. Having you forgive me was just gravy."

"I'm sure it was." Addison smiled at him, moving slightly closer. "I am intrigued that you've invited yourself into my delivery room though."

"Yeah, about that, I just thought she might like a familiar…" Addison cut him off again, leaning in to kiss him passionately. "Face."

"It was one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. Men rarely invite themselves to hold the hands of women being physically tortured." Derek grinned at her.

"What can I say? I like spending time with you." Addison smiled at how adorable he was.

"Did you book our tickets to Connecticut?" She asked, playing with his badge.

"On my desk at home. We leave early tomorrow morning, and we'll be back Saturday evening."

"Sounds good." Addison leaned in to kiss him lightly once more. "I've got rounds to get to."

"Don't go. I missed you last night." Derek pleaded, pulling her into him to kiss behind her ear.

"I didn't really miss you. I was pissed." Addison joked, tilting her head to give him better access.

"Yeah I got that last night. Can't believe you were going to stand me up." Derek went back to kissing her jaw and neck.

"Me neither. Yelling at you was much better."

"I'm sure." He muttered into her skin.

"Honey, I really have to go." Addison pushed back firmly on his shoulders, leaving her hands on him to keep him back. "But, I'm going to try and get out of here early, at which time I will go to my apartment, pack, make you a delicious dinner, and wait for you to come over with your stuff all packed and ready to go. I'm closer to the airport."

"Sounds like a plan." Derek kissed her quickly before moving from the door and holding it open for her.

"Thank you." She winked at him before heading to meet Izzie at the nurses' station.

**Shepherd Residence**

**3:00 P.M. **

"Wow Derek, this house is amazing." Addison said, shutting the door to their rental car and gazing up to where Derek's parents now called home.

"I know. My dad grew up here. When his parents passed away, they left it to them. They wanted to get away from the city, so they came out here and renovated the whole thing. It's beautiful inside." Derek responded, taking her gloved hand in his as they walked to the door.

"I bet. Will you give me a tour?" Addison asked.

"Of course. I'll even show you the room I used to sleep in when I came to visit. Its got a very comfortable bed…" Derek's voice trailed off as he gave Addie a suggestive look.

"Don't even think about it. You're entire family is here, and I don't want your mother thinking I've become some sort of tramp since she last saw me. Hands to yourself." She warned.

"You're no fun." He pouted at her as he rang the door bell.

"Aw, don't pout. It's the holidays." Yanking on his hand, she pulled him closer. "If you're good, I noticed a very nice Jacuzzi in our hotel room that we could try out later." Derek pulled his head back, eyes wide and lit up. Before he could say more, the door opened.

"Oh my god!" Patricia exclaimed, running to give Addison a hug. "You're all grown up!" She added, pulling back to look at her.

"I know. It's been too long since I've seen you. How are you?"

"The same. More wrinkles. More gray hair." Patricia joked.

"Stop it! You look fantastic." Addison replied, smiling widely.

"I'm so glad you're here. You'll have to catch me up on everything. Last time I saw you, you had braces."

"Don't remind me." Addison joked back. Feeling forgotten, Derek finally spoke up.

"Hi mom." He exclaimed, getting both women's attention.

"Derek!" She reached to give him a hug. "Sorry sweetie."

"I was starting to feel forgotten."

"Nonsense. I was just overwhelmed to see an old friend. Come in you two, it's freezing out there." Pushing the door fully open, she ushered them into the house.

"Everyone, Derek's home." She shouted to the packed living room. Chaos emerged as everyone got up to say hi. A million hugs later, it settled down and Derek took the opportunity to introduce Addison to his family.

"Guys, this is Addison. I'll do introductions now, but it's cool if you forget everyone's names. I do most of time too."

"Derek!" His mom slapped his arm as she headed to the kitchen. Everybody laughed.

"Alright. We'll go by age. This is my oldest sister Kathleen and her husband James, then there's Nancy and her husband David, Julie and her husband Noah, and last but not least, Allison and her husband Will." Addison shook hands as he went along.

"It's very nice to meet you all." She said with a smile.

"You can meet the kids later. They're all playing downstairs." Derek reassured her. She nodded, trying to take it all in.

"Addison, a drink?" James asked.

"White wine please." She responded, excited for a drink.

"Just remember to take deep breaths." Derek slid an arm around her waist and whispered in her. She smiled at him, kissing his cheek lightly.

"Thank you." Addison said to James as she accepted her wine. He smiled back, heading downstairs to check on the kids.

"Addison, can I steal you for a moment?" Patricia called from the kitchen.

"Of course." Addison replied, winking at Derek before leaving his side. Now that he was alone, he made his way over to the couch where his sisters were all talking.

"Look who decided to grace us with his presence this year." Nancy spoke first, shoving Derek slightly.

"Hey at least I called. When you bailed two years ago, mom thought you died since you didn't call."

"Yeah she wasn't too happy about that." Nancy joked, sipping her wine.

"You really shouldn't live so far away Derek. We miss having you on this coast." Kathleen said.

"I know. Most of the time I miss you guys too." Kathleen leaned forward to ruffle his hair.

"It's surprising how all that time in Seattle and you haven't gotten any funnier." Julie chimed in. All five kids perked up at the sound of their mom and Addison laughing in the kitchen.

"At least I brought someone to distract mom. She fully ignored me when we arrived upon seeing Addie."

"Mom talked about her all day." Julie added, getting up to refresh her drink.

"I vaguely remember her from when we were kids. She hung out here a lot right." Allison asked.

"Me, her, and Mark were all really tight freshmen year before she moved away."

"Oh yeah! I remember liking her for telling you two off when you acted like idiots. Didn't she have glasses?"

"Still does. Just for reading." Derek responded, sipping his scotch.

"I do have to say I'm quite impressed Derek." Nancy said.

"With what?" He asked incredulously.

"Well for starters, she's hot." Nancy exclaimed. Derek raised his eyebrows at her. "What?"

"She's right." The other three agreed.

"Stop! This is weird. I don't want you calling my girlfriend hot."

"Why not, it's a compliment?" Allison reasoned, smiling at her sisters.

"You'll have to explain to us later how you actually got someone like her to sleep with you." Kathleen joined in on ragging on Derek.

"Okay, ouch. Why wouldn't an attractive woman want to sleep with me?" He asked. They all laughed instead of answering. "Hey!"

"Oh relax Derek we're just teasing you. From what mom said, she's fantastic."

"She is fantastic. And I'm in love with her. So be nice." He sternly pointed to each of them.

"We're always nice." Kathleen defended. "We just look out for a little brother. And that doesn't change, love or not. I'm sure she'll pass our tests fine."

"I'm telling Dad on you." Derek stood up in a huff. The four women just laughed.

"So, little bro's in love, huh?" Allison said.

"This is a first for him. He hasn't brought home a girl in years." Julie spoke.

"Not since we scared off the first girl he ever "loved" back when he was in college." Nancy added, air quotes and all for affect.

"This should be interesting." Kathleen finished off their conversation as they all peeked into the kitchen where Addison was helping their mom finish dinner.

**Shepherd Residence**

**6:30 P.M. **

"Boys, boys, boys: you have it all wrong. The Bears offense this season is bar none. Even with the Lions on the top of their game, they don't stand a chance." Addison was downstairs with the men watching the Thanksgiving football game on the jumbo screen the Shepherd's had.

"Yeah but they just got three all-star college recruits from the draft this season after doing so bad last year. They're the heart of the defense. Young and huge." Noah argued.

"Doesn't matter. With Smith in the pocket and Bauer and Barber as receivers, all the linebackers aren't going to help without coverage on the sides."

"That's where Marks and Adams come in." David added.

"Oh please. Marks couldn't keep up with Bauer if he got a thirty-yard head start." Will and James both laughed.

"Guys a little help? She's ragging on your team too." Noah motioned to the screen.

"Sorry man. She knows her stuff. The Lions are awful." Will spoke. All five were laughing when Derek came down to join them.

"What's so funny?" Derek asked.

"Nothing. We were just discussing the finer points of football. You're girlfriend is quite the expert." Addison smiled up at Derek, who linked an arm around her waist and smiled back at her.

"I guess that's what happens when you have brothers. I got stuck with those four. Ask me anything about nail polish and I'm your guy." Derek joked.

"Oh that's okay sweetie. We all have our strengths." The four men found that very funny.

"Thank you." Addison leaned up to touch his cheek. "Guys you mind if I steal her away for a little while?" He asked.

"Of course. Bring her back for the second game though. Patriots vs. Colts should be solid." Noah said.

"I'll definitely be back. We can debate the finer points of zone defense." The men all nodded as Derek led Addison upstairs.

"Well aren't you the popular one?" Derek whispered into her ear as they sat together on the couch.

"What can I say? I like football." Addison leaned in to him.

"I feel like I haven't seen you except for dinner."

"I'm sorry babe. I've been socializing. Your family is great." She said in a low voice into his ear. "Haven't really talked to your sisters though."

"Don't worry. They're just preparing their attack." Derek said, rubbing her leg up and down. Addison pushed his hand back down and held it in her own, causing Derek to whimper softly.

"Be a good boy Derek or no hot tub for you." She whispered seductively in her ear. "And don't worry about your sisters. I'm sure there not as bad you say."

"Oh you have no idea. They scared away my first serious girlfriend from college. Like practically ran away in tears. They're ruthless."

"He's right you know. We're four separate incarnations of Satan." Nancy said, sitting down in a chair by the couch.

"Eavesdropping much?" Derek said, giving her a look.

"Relax will you? Don't make us whip out the make-up and hair ties." She responded, making Addison laugh into Derek's shoulder.

"Don't laugh. It only encourages them." Derek said in a low tone.

"Some of the pictures we have pictures that you will make you regret ever being his friend." Nancy said, ignoring Derek completely.

"No you don't. I burned all of them." Derek retorted with a smirk.

"Oh you think you burned all of them. We have some you haven't even seen." Nancy told Addison.

"And this is why I don't come home for the holidays anymore."

"Stop being so dramatic or we may just have to whip them out for old time's sake." Kathleen added, joining their conversation.

"I, for one, would love to see them." Addison said.

"See what?" Julie asked sitting on the couch on Derek's other side.

"The pictures of when we dressed up Derek as a girl when he was younger." Nancy explained.

"Its been way too long since I've seen those. Who hid them?" Julie asked.

"Allison, I think. Allie?" Nancy called out, trying to find her.

"Yeah?" Allison replied, rushing back in to the room holding her crying son.

"He still hasn't calmed down? It's been nearly an hour." Kathleen asked, shocked.

"No, and I've tried everything. Mom even tried. Nothing will work." Allison said, swaying him back and forth in desperation.

"Do you mind if I try? I spend all day with babies. I know a few tricks most don't." Addison offered her services. Allison and Derek exchanged looks. He nodded that it would be fine.

"Sure. Go ahead." Addison pulled her arm from where it was around Derek's and stood up, arms extended to accept the baby. Addison began to move the baby back and forth in her arms, lightly tickling his foot with her right hand. Almost instantly, he settled down and began reaching up for Addison, a smile on his face. Addison smiled back at him before looking up at the amazed group in front of her.

"What?" She asked, confused by all of their glances.

"I've been working with him for an hour. How did you do that so fast?" Allison asked in amazement.

"If you touch the baby's foot as you're rocking them, it settles them down. I don't know why, but it works on nearly every infant I see. Even makes them smile a little. You give it a try." Addison handed the baby back to Allison, who started to rock him back and forth.

"Like this?" She glanced up at Addison for approval. She nodded in agreement. "That is phenomenal. I've got to go teach my husband. Thank you Addison."

"No problem. I have a million tricks I can teach you sometime." Addison offered.

"That would be great." Allison smiled back, exchanging glances with her sisters before heading downstairs.

"Derek, can you help me in here for a moment?" Patricia asked.

"Sure thing." Derek called back. Standing up, he kissed Addie on the cheek before heading past her into the kitchen. Allison returned up the stairs, with the baby, and joined the foursome.

"Ugh. Men and football. I'll have to show my darling husband later." Allison sat down heavily.

"So Addie, tell us about yourself." Nancy asked, patting the seat next to her. Addison quickly sat down.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey guys. Mom wanted me to tell you dessert's ready." Derek said to the men as the stood around the television watching the game. They all nodded and turned off the television. Heading up the stairs, they were struck by intense laughter coming from the living room. Reaching the landing, they observed the five ladies sitting in their same spots, clearly enjoying themselves.

"I feel bad interrupting." James said. Derek simply nodded, too caught up with how well Addison fit with his family. Never before had he seen his sisters take to anyone so fast.

"Why? They're always like this." David said.

"Good point. Ladies…" Noah called out. "Dessert's ready."

"Okay." Kathleen said, recovering from her laughter. "We'll finish this after dessert."

"You guys definitely missed Derek and Mark's most awkward years. I have a million of these stories." Addison said, standing up.

"Allie will have to find those pictures too. You'll love them." Nancy said, touching Addie's arm as she walked in step with her.

"I bet." The sisters, their husbands, and kids all headed into the dining room. Derek hung back, wrapping his hand around Addie's arm to pull her over to him.

"You girls looked like you were having fun at my expense." Derek said, placing his hands on her waist.

"Derek, your sisters are great. I don't know what you always complain about. And it wasn't just at your expense. Mark's too."

"That's great. I'm glad you were so quick to find common ground." Derek joked. Addison smiled at him and went to move into the kitchen. Derek's hands on her waist pulled her back to him.

"Derek, you're family is waiting."

"One kiss? I've been really good." He said with his dreamiest of smiles on. Addison gave him a look, but he just held her tighter. Sensing she wouldn't be moving until she caved, she took his face in her hands and kissed him on the mouth.

"You are infuriating." She said when they pulled apart.

"I get that a lot." Derek pulled her back in for another kiss.

"Did you ever get told no as a child?" She asked, pulling back again.

"All the time. I just didn't listen." Addison giggled as Derek took her lips in his again.

"Derek, Addison, dessert's…" Derek's father Jim trailed off as he saw them kissing. Addison pulled back, embarrassed. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt." He said with a smile. Addison smiled back awkwardly before running a hand through her hair and excusing herself into the dining room. Derek stood there a moment longer with his father, running a hand through his hair as well and smiling uncontrollably.

"You do realize that if you ever let someone like her get away, I will disown you as my son, right?" Jim said.

"Oh yeah." Derek responded, patting his dad on the back as they entered the living room.

**Hotel Room**

**9:30 P.M. **

"So, you really think it went okay?" Addison asked, leaning back into Derek's arms and playing with the bubbles in the tub.

"Add, I'm telling you, it went amazing. I think they want to trade me for you." He replied, quickly getting back to kissing her neck and shoulder.

"I know you said they were all terrible and stuff, but I personally loved your sisters. I remember meeting Allie once, but they are all great." Addison said.

"That's only because they like you." He mumbled into her skin. Addison laughed lightly, running her hands up and down his legs as she leaned further into his body.

"Thank you for inviting me." She said seriously, turning her head to look him in the eye. Derek leaned down to kiss her lips softly. Addison brought a soapy hand to his face to deepen the kiss.

"Thank you for coming." Derek smiled at her, leaning in to kiss her again. Trying not to spill too much water out of the tub, Addison turned herself over so that they were now face to face, all without breaking their kiss.

"Want to get out of here? The water's getting cold." Addison asked, a seductive look in her eye.

"What did you have in mind?" He replied, running a hand up and down her back.

"Possibly a shower to wash off all of this soap." She offered, leaning in to his jaw, down his neck to her favorite spot behind his ear.

"Wouldn't want to get soap on the bed now would we?"

**So, this is the longest chapter I've done by far in this story. Hope you all liked. They're little spat was something I randomly came up with. No couple doesn't ever have some serious fight once and a while, even Addek. **

**You have to admit, Derek was pretty darn cute in making up for it. Granted she forgave him quickly, but he was extremely adorable.**

**Alrighty, a/n over. Kindly review with thoughts, opinions, the like. I'm planning a more serious fight down the road. Ideas for that, or things you'd like to see, let me know!**


	19. Just a Little Trickery

**OKAY so for all those who are reading this, thanks! And I know I SUCK at life for taking so long…blame college. But, school's out for summer so I'm back to my story. Please stick with this, and I'll update a lot if you all review…promise!**

**Richard's Office**

**9:30 A.M. **

"Chief, I have Dr. Montgomery for you." Patricia beeped into Richard's office.

"Of course. Send her in please." Richard responded, leaning back in his chair as Addison entered the room.

"Thank you Patricia." Smiling, Patricia shut the door behind her. Addison headed towards his desk, taking a seat in the sofa-like chair and smiling at Richard. He smiled back enthusiastically.

"What's up Richard? You're sort of scaring me with that smile." Addison broke their silence.

"Nothing. I'm good. The hospital is running smooth. I've got you in a binding contract, making my surgical dream team a reality, and my wife is busing herself planning a holiday party for said dream team and, thus, has been in a superior mood all week." Richard said confidently. "A party in which you will attend or else. She's already mad you haven't seen her since you've been here."

"Oh god, I know. We spoke on the phone twice but I've been swamped getting _your _NICU into shape." She said, emphasizing his role in her absent behavior.

"She'll survive. This party will be a perfect excuse for the two of you to get together." Addison nodded and smiled at him.

"Well, not that you need it, but I do have some news that will make you and your love for this hospital grow exponentially." Addison teased.

"Do share." Richard perked up at Addison's suggestion.

"Quintuplets, Richard. Mother to be check in this morning." Addison said subtly.

"That's a go." Richard said excitedly.

"Well, don't go calling the press yet. It's very high risk. At least three of the babies are surgical. I'm going to need to call on all departments for assistance."

"I'll spread the word this morning. Whatever you need, whoever you need, it's yours." Richard said assertively, standing up. Addison followed his lead and stood as well.

"The guys are going to love that." She said sarcastically, walking towards the door of the office.

"I trust you can keep them in line?" Richard asked.

"Like you even have to ask." Addison winked at him before heading down the hallway.

**Seattle Grace**

**10:30 A.M. **

Addison approached the nurses' station. Burke was busy working at the computer while Derek and Mark were having a heated discussion, probably about sports. They all had their backs to her, so upon her approach, she dropped her charts loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Good morning boys." Addison smiled sweetly at their startled faces. Grabbing the copies of Dorie's chart, she began to hand them out. "Dorie Russell, she's giving birth to quints."

"Ah yes. I do believe Richard mentioned something about us being at your beck and call today." Derek said as he skimmed the chart.

"At least three of the babies are surgical, so we're going to need everyone. Do you guys have time to meet with the mother now? I'd like her to meet all of the surgeons on her team."

"I can stop by after surgery." Burke said, standing from the computer.

"Me too Adds. Rhinoplasty in half an hour." Mark added after.

"Alright. Thanks guys." Both men nodded as they walked to the operating rooms. Addison turned her attention to Derek, who remained standing beside her. "And what about you? Do you have any time for me?" She asked, stepping in closer, her voice low and seductive.

"As far as I knew it, I'm always at your beck and call." Derek smiled dreamily at her. Addison returned the smile, taking his chin in her hand to direct his lips towards hers for a quick kiss.

"I've trained you well. Don't ever forget that." Addison winked, and began to walk away from him. Derek quickly caught up to her, adjusting the chart he was holding so he could take her hand in his.

"So, does a hot neonatal surgeon like you already have plans or could a measly neurosurgeon proposition her for a date?" Derek asked slyly.

"Depends on what he had in mind." Addison replied, playing along.

"Does dinner and a movie sound intriguing enough?" Derek pulled back slightly on her hand before they reached Dorie's room. Addison looked him up and down quickly.

"You're cute enough, so I guess that would be acceptable."

"Excellent." Derek started to walk into the room, but Addie pulled him back to her.

"I pick the movie though."

"You're going to make me see _Hitch_ aren't you?" Derek pouted when Addison nodded emphatically. "Oh come on Add you always get to pick and…." Before Derek could finish his rant, Addison indulged on the spontaneity of the moment, and the currently empty hallway, and pinned him against the wall with an extremely passionate kiss. Addison pulled back and happily took in Derek's expression of bliss.

"Are you sure we can't see _Hitch_?" Addison asked sweetly, knowing the answer that would come. Just to be sure, her hand lingered on his cheek, her fingers occasionally running across his lips.

"_Hitch _sounds perfect… as long as we get to do more of that after." Derek said, motioning to the two of them with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Deal." Addison laughed as she yanked him into Dorie's room.

**1:00 P.M. **

"Mer, you need to calm down." Cristina tried to keep Meredith calm.

"Haha, not going to happen. This is the one-night stand from hell." Meredith said exasperated, pacing the hallway in front of Steve's room.

"We covered this already. Why are you freaking out now?" Cristina questioned.

"Because Dr. Bailey called for a _neuro _consult. You know what, or better yet, who, that means." Meredith stopped pacing momentarily when Cristina started to laugh. "This isn't funny."

"Yes it is. But hey, I thought you were getting over McDreamy since you found out he's boning Montgomery."

"Okay, ew for that mental image. But that's not the point. I am getting over him. Well, trying to get over him."

"Enter Steve." Cristina said bluntly. Meredith shot her a look that said at all. "Mer, you need to give it up. You two were never even together. You hardly know him. What's with the obsession?"

"It's not obsession. It's a crush. And I know enough about him." Meredith rationalized. "And you're one to talk. When you and Burke started you didn't know anything about him."

"That's true. But now, we sleep together. I'm allowed to like him. The key word there is _started_. We actually have. You're still pining."

"I'm working on it." Meredith plopped down on the gurney next to Cristina.

"What is it that you're so attracted to exactly?"

"I don't know. He's just so…"

"McDreamy." Cristina answered for her.

"Yeah." Meredith sighed.

"Think he'll be jealous of Steve?" Cristina deadpanned. Meredith buried her face in the pillow and groaned.

**1:30 P.M. **

"Do not say it." Meredith begged.

"He's defying gravity as we speak. It's back." Cristina answered, trying not to laugh as Meredith's expression fell.

"I didn't do anything I swear!" Steve shouted.

"We've tried everything. Dr. Shepherd should be here soon." Bailey spoke.

"Who's Dr. Shepherd?" Steve asked.

"Our head of neurosurgery." Cristina answered.

"You think it's in my brain?" Steve exclaimed loudly, clearly panicked.

"Well if not then I certainly don't have to be here." Derek got everyone's attention, entering the room with a smile. "Doctors." He addressed the women of the room. "What do we have?"

"Steve Anders, twenty-five years of age with a problem south of the border." Cristina introduced, and Meredith stepped back, wishing she was dead. Derek looked at her puzzled, but followed Bailey's lead when she picked up the sheet.

"I see." Derek did his best to remain official. "When did this problem begin?"

"I had an erection last night, and when I woke up, it was still there." Steve answered.

"Alright. And when did you last ejaculate?" Derek asked, taking notes on the chart.

"I don't remember…Meredith?" Everyone's attention turned to Meredith, Derek's included. They made brief eye contact before she shied away.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you two were seeing a couple." Derek broke the silence.

"We aren't!" Meredith spat out without thinking.

"We met at Joe's bar last night." Steve filled in the gap.

"Oh. Okay. Got it." Derek was very nonchalant, his attention focused on his patient. Meredith continued to let her eyes wander, trying very hard not to turn too red.

"Alright Steve, I have a feeling you have a tumor pressing on your frontal lobe and that is what's causing your problem. I'm going to get some scans to confirm, and operate. That should relieve your pain."

"Uh, okay. If that's what you think is best." Steve said.

"It's our only option. You'll get your scans, and we'll talk again right afterwards, at which time I'll lay everything out for you. There's nothing to worry about." Derek reassured his patient and handed the chart back to Bailey, motioning for Meredith to follow him out. Shooting a glance at Cristina, she followed him out.

"Dr. Grey, I understand this is your case?" Derek asked.

"Yes, Dr. Shepherd." Meredith responded uneasily.

"This is going to be an interesting surgery and I want to give you the opportunity to scrub in. If you feel it will be too awkward though because of your…history with the patient, I will ask Dr. Yang." Derek offered. When Meredith didn't respond right away, he continued. "You don't have to decide now. Page me when the scans come back and let me know then."

"Thank you." Meredith finally spoke. Derek simply smiled and walked away. Meredith watched him leave before heading back into the room. Cristina headed straight over.

"So? What did he say? Are you completely mortified? Did he get upset you cheated on him?"

"You're an ass." She muttered under her breath. "He said that if it would be too awkward for me, he wouldn't mind if I bailed on the surgery and let you have it."

"Seriously?" Cristina asked, surprised.

"Seriously." Meredith answered, staring into space.

"And now you find him more attractive." Cristina said.

"And now I find him more attractive."

**6:00 P.M.**

Derek turned the corner, heading towards the surgical board when he saw the flash of red that never hesitated to make him smile. He hung back as Addison finished instructing a nurse about a patient before approaching.

"Hey beautiful." Derek whispered in her ear as he came up behind her.

"Hi baby." Addison replied, turning her head to the side so he could kiss her. She finished making notes on the board before spinning to face him.

"How was your day?" Derek asked, heading down the hallway towards the on-call room.

"Good. Keeping a very close eye on Dorie took up most of my time. You?"

"Just finished a surgery." Derek replied.

"Anything good?" She asked, opening the door.

"Yes, actually. Male patient… with a priapism." Addison laughed out loud before Derek pushed her in to the room. "Okay, way to be a professional Add."

"I'm sorry. That's not funny. It's a very serious problem." Addison replied, keeping herself calm.

"You haven't even heard the best part yet." Derek teased.

"There's more?" Addison asked excitedly. Derek nodded.

"But you're sworn to secrecy." Derek pointed a finger at her to make his point.

"I promise, I promise. Just tell me." Addison took her hands in his and smiled cutely to get him to give it up.

"The patient was a one-night stand of Grey's." Addison's eyes widened at the gossip.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. Derek tried to shush her, locking the on-call room so no one could come in. "That's got to win an award for worst one night stand ever. Was she terribly embarrassed?"

"About six shades of red. But she was tough, helped out on the surgery. I offered to let her sit it out and give the case to Yang but she declined."

"That was sweet of you." Derek just smiled adorably at her. "I would expect no less." Addison leaned in to kiss him softly on the lips. Derek moved his hands down to her waist to keep her close, kissing her again, but much harder.

"You know, we have an empty on-call room, all to ourselves." Derek pointed out, kissing her neck sensually.

"So we do." Addison said, looking around as she ran her fingers through his hair. "But we're at work."

"It would still be a real shame to let it go to waste, don't you think?" He offered, returning his mouth to hers for a little extra convincing. They made eye contact and Derek raised his eyebrows suggestively as he tightened his arms around her waist. Addison rolled her eyes at him before relenting and kissing him again. Derek smiled against her lips as he began to walk her backwards towards the bed.

As Addison felt the bed behind her, she slowly sat down, carefully dragging Derek down on top of her without breaking their kiss. Adjusting himself so he wasn't fully on top of her, Derek leaned slightly against the wall. Pulling back momentarily, he smiled adoringly down at her as he let his free hand travel down her body to the tie on her scrub pants. Addison just giggled softly, running her hand through his hair as he kissed the skin right above her waist line.

As Derek began to trail kisses back up her body, Addison's pager began to beep. Derek groaned, falling fully on to the bed next to her and burying his face in the pillow. Addison laughed lightly at him, petting his head as she grabbed her pager and checked the screen.

"Damn.." She exclaimed, sitting up fully and swinging her feet over the edge. "It's Dorie. I have to go." Derek nodded in understanding. Addison leaned down to kiss him quickly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Derek smiled up at her, kissing her once more before she stood and left the room.

**Nurses' Station**

**10:00 P.M. **

Derek, re-dressed in his street clothes after finishing an emergency craniotomy on a car-crash victim, headed towards the nurses' station to leave notes on his pressing cases for the interns. He hadn't seen Addison since Dorie's surgery, and hoped she was ready to leave for the night and finish what they started in the on-call room. When he saw her approaching with Izzie, still wearing her scrubs, he had a bad feeling.

"I'll meet you up there in five minutes. I want her under when I get up there." Addison ordered, making eye contact with Derek.

"Yes, Dr. Montgomery." Izzie hurried away, and Derek approached slowly.

"You look exhausted." Derek said softly, dropping his bag between his feet and trying to steal her attention away from the five charts she was rummaging between.

"That's because I am." She snapped back, slamming closed the chart she was working on. Derek winced slightly at her tone, but held his ground. Addison sighed deeply, and quickly reached for his hand. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. What's wrong?"

"Tired. Very tired."

"I'm going to take it by your current attire that you're cancelling for tonight." Addison nodded quickly. "Figured as much."

"I need to be here tonight. I have to operate on Dorie in about ten minutes, and keep an eye on the preemie I just finished on. It's too much for Izzie on her own this early in the program."

"I'll settle for a rain check." Derek said with a cute smile. Addison leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"I knew you'd understand." She smiled.

"But of course. Get out of here. You're late for surgery."

"Maybe Mark's free." She offered, walking away.

"He doesn't look nearly as good in a skirt." He called after her.

"You never know." She winked back. Derek laughed, picking up his bag and heading for the door.

**Seattle Grace**

**10:30 A.M. **

"So where's your better half?" Mark said, coming up from behind Derek.

"Excuse me?" Derek asked, looking up from his chart.

"Where's Addison? You two have been attached at the hip lately?"

"I haven't seen her all morning, thank you very much. She spent the night at the hospital watching over Dorie." Derek went back to his chart.

"Is that why you are so pissy?"

"I'm not pissy. I just didn't sleep well last night." Derek rolled his neck to try and get the crick out. He moved to the other nurses' station down the hall.

"What's with him?" Addie asked, coming up next to Mark and stealing his coffee.

"He didn't sleep well. Very short-tempered your boyfriend."

"He's not. You're just annoying." Addison teased as Mark stole back his coffee. Reaching out, he pinched her cheek.

"Ouch!" She smacked his arm. "You haven't pinched my cheeks since high school. How old are you?"

"How old are you?" He shot back, a look of embarrassment coming over his face at his lame comeback.

"Nice one." She said, taking his coffee for good and heading towards Derek.

"Hi." She said softly, leaning against the counter to face Derek. He looked up at her and could only manage to smile meekly. "What's wrong? Mark said you were in a bad mood. I just thought he annoyed you."

"He did. But I wasn't in a good mood before either." Derek replied, standing up and heading to her side of the counter and into the locker room.

"And why is that?" She questioned, following him. Derek popped two Advil into his mouth with some water before shutting his locker and turning towards her. She had her arms crossed with that impatient look on her face. Derek softened and moved closer.

"Well, I didn't sleep very well last night. It seems as though I've adapted to having some rather pleasant company with me and without it, I tossed and turned all night."

"Oh, really?" She asked, leaning against the lockers.

"Yep. And on top of that, I woke up with an awful headache and neck pain. That parts not your fault. The first part is though."

"You think so?" She questioned.

"I do. I think a massage could ease your fault in all of this though." Derek suggested.

"I suppose I could manage that. It's only fair after all." Derek glowed at Addison and threw off his lab coat before sitting on the bench. Addison just rolled her eyes and moved closer to him. "Close your eyes." Derek obliged as her hands began to press into his neck.

"Here?" She asked. Derek just moaned in clear approval.

"So how's Dorie doing?"

"Physically, okay. Emotionally, she's sort of a wreck. The babies are doing as well as can be expected. Burke's surgery is in two hours, and Bailey has one in the afternoon."

"You get any sleep?"

"Some." She said, moving to sit in front of him on the bench and massage his temples. Derek brought his hands to her arms and slowly started running them up and down, massaging as he went. When he reached her hands, he took them into his own and brought them to his lap.

"You maybe want to save _Hitch _for when you're more rested and I'll instead make you a nice home cooked meal?" Derek kissed each of her hands.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Addison smiled at him as she took his face into her hands and brought her lips to his. Derek eagerly reciprocated, reaching out to her waist to pull her closer. They continued like this for awhile, Derek's hand slowly creeping under her lab coat to pull her shirt from her scrubs so his hands could find bare skin. Before they got too far, the door of the locker room opened.

"D, you still in here?" Mark asked, looking around. "Woah, okay." He said, turning away when he saw Derek and Addison making out on the bench. "I see someone's feeling better." Derek rested his head against Addie's as she started laughing.

"I was before someone interrupted." Derek said, removing his hands and turning his head towards Mark.

"Whatever. Trauma pulling in. Five minutes out. They need you in the pit."

"I'll be right there." Mark nodded, watching Derek face towards Addie again. Mark smiled at Addison over his shoulder, and left the room.

"I'm glad I could help a little bit." Addison said, pushing his hair back from his face to run her hands through it.

"You always make me feel better." Derek said sincerely, leaning in to kiss her forehead and pull her into a hug. "I love you." He whispered into her hair.

"I love you too."

**Webber's Office**

**4:00 P.M. **

"What's up? You're happy mood from yesterday seems to have dissipated rather quickly." Richard asked as he watched Addison plop on to his sofa.

"Remember what you did to me as an intern?" Addison asked.

"How could I forget? You wouldn't speak to me for over a year." Addison looked up.

"I've never been more upset as a doctor, Richard."

"But you learned." Richard emphasized. Addison took a moment to think it over.

"I think I have to do that to Izzie Stevens. She's been getting too attached to patients, especially this Russell quint with the bad heart."

"Stevens is smart, hard worker, actually reminds me a lot of you. Attachment problem to boot." Addison sat up and ran her hands through her hair.

"It took me a long time to get over that."

"But you did, and you're a better surgeon because of it." Addison nodded sadly and stood up.

"Thanks, Richard." Webber acknowledged her as she walked out. Shutting the door behind her, Addison took a deep breath in before heading down the hallway. Derek caught the flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Before he could say anything, she was gone.

**Lobby**

**8:00 P.M. **

Derek waited patiently in the lobby chairs for Addison to come. He was very excited to spend some quality time with her outside the hospital. He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't sleep well without her. When the elevator opened and she emerged, he stood to meet her.

"Hey." He said dreamily.

"Hi." She responded meekly. She wore the same face she had when she left Richard's office earlier that day.

"Everything okay?" He asked, picking up his bag.

"Fine. You ready to go?" She said shortly.

"Sure." Addison nodded and started towards the parking lot. Derek followed, utterly confused at her disposition. When they reached the cars, he spoke again.

"Yours or mine?" He broke Addison from her reverie.

"You want to get a drink first? I could really go for a drink." She responded, ignoring his question.

"Sure. A drink sounds good." Putting his keys away, Derek followed Addison across the street to Joe's. Upon entering, Derek headed to the bar to order while Addison surpassed their usual table for a secluded booth in the back.

"Hey Dr. Shepherd."

"Joe. How are you?"

"Good, and you?"

"Can't complain. The usual?" Joe asked.

"Please." Derek smiled at him before heading to the booth Addison was at. Joe brought their drinks soon after. They both sipped at them for awhile before Derek got sick of the silence.

"So am I supposed to guess what's got you in such a bad mood all of the sudden or just sit here in silence?" Derek asked, trying to not sound to upset.

"I just have a lot on my mind." Addison said quietly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked, reaching out a hand to cover hers.

"Not really. I think I'm just going to go home, get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow, though." Addison forced a smile as she stood up and kissed him on the cheek. Derek watched in awe as she left, reeling from the complete 180 he just witnessed. Throwing money down for the drinks, he grabbed his bag and headed after her.

"Addison!" Derek called after her as she crossed the street.

"Derek, I just want to go home. I'll see you tomorrow." Derek reached for her arm to keep her from leaving.

"No, not good enough. Talk to me about what's bothering you. I want to be here for you." Addison made eye contact with him, not wanting to hold back her tears anymore.

"Will you follow me back to my place? We can talk there."

"Of course." Derek replied softly.

**Addison's Apartment**

**9:00 P.M. **

Addison emerged from her bedroom in her sweat pants as Derek let himself in. Locking the door behind him, he shrugged out of his coat and kicked off his shoes. Taking the drink she left for him, he headed for the couch where she sat, her gaze fixed out the window. Sipping his drink, he waited patiently for her to start talking.

"Back when I was an intern, I had no idea what I wanted to specialize in. I never had the drive for any one specialty. All I knew was that I wanted to be a doctor. Mid-way through my first year as an intern, with Richard as my attending, we had a mother come in pregnant with twins. It was the first real procedure I got to assist on. When we were removing them during the c-section, the girl, even premature, had this grip on my finger that was so strong and I just fell in love with her. Richard assigned me to stay on call for the second night in a row and make sure that nothing went wrong. They were concerned about heart problems but if she was strong enough in the morning, they were going to operate. I spent all night shoving her full of every drug on the planet to keep her stable. I must have passed out, because when I woke up in the morning, the incubator was empty."

Addison's voice cracked and Derek could see the tears in her eyes. Bringing a hand to her shoulder reassuringly, she sipped her tea and continued.

"When I finally found Richard, he informed me that the baby had never had any shot at surviving. He assigned me to her to teach me a lesson about distancing myself from my patients. It took me almost a year to get over it. I couldn't look at Richard without seeing that little girl." Her tears flowed freely now and Derek moved over to take her into his arms.

"And now, like right now, Izzie Stevens is sitting in the NICU watching Casey Russell sit in her incubator. She's going to sit there all night and drug her and do anything and everything she can think of to keep her alive; none of it will work because her heart is too weak. And I'm going to have to convince her that it wasn't her fault; that things like this just happen. She won't believe one word of it, because I sure as hell didn't. The pain it's going to cause her is just so…" Addison cried freely now as Derek tightened his grip around her and laid back against the couch.

"Shhh. It's okay. Just breathe." Derek whispered, stroking her hair and rubbing her back.

"I had to do it to her Derek. I had to. She is too attached. She's like I was. Too attached. And it will only get worse. I had to do something. I had too…" Addison continued to sob in to Derek's chest.

"I know, Addie. I know. It's going to be for the best. She'll learn that, just like you did." Derek said reassuringly. "And no matter what happens, I'll be here for you." Leaning down, he kissed her forehead. Addie shifted her body to look at him. Derek smiled sincerely at her and moved the hair that had fallen in front of her face back behind her ear. Bracing one hand on his chest, she leaned down to kiss him. Derek eagerly responded, cradling her face in his hands as she shifted to lay more fully on top of him

"Thank you." She said softly, pushing his hair off his face and rubbing his cheek.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm always here for you. You know that right?" He asked. Addison smiled and nodded in return. "Okay then." Derek sat up slightly and grabbed the throw blanket off the back of the couch. Putting it over the two of them, Addison laid down on his chest, letting his steady heartbeat calm her own. Kissing his neck briefly, she cuddled into side and drifted to sleep. Derek made sure she was asleep before closing his eyes himself.

**So for anyone who is still reading, I hope this made sense! If not, it will now that I'm back in my groove. Review or I'm just going to give up…sorry again for the wait! **


	20. Have a Merry Little Christmas Part I

**Wow! I'm so glad that people are still reading this story. I felt so bad for not updating for such a long stretch of time, but you guys are all very loyal so thank you. **

**On with the story…don't forget that requests are always wanted for what you would like out of our favorite couple so send them my way!**

**Addison's Apartment**

**7:30 P.M. **

Derek put the finishing touches on dinner, occasionally glancing up at Addison, who was sitting at the other end of the island, a glass of wine in one hand, and a pen in the other. She was facing away from him, and couldn't tell what she was so intently working on. As he poured wine into his own glass and set it on the table, curiosity got the best of him.

"Did you bring home charts from work?" He enquired, breaking the silence of the room.

"Nope." She answered without looking up.

"Did you steal my Sudoku book from my nightstand at home?" He guessed again. Addison looked up this time, sticking her tongue out briefly.

"No. After last time, I wouldn't dare touch that thing again." She replied, thinking back to how protective he was over the book.

"I told you that I wanted to do the whole thing alone. Don't act like I didn't warn you." He defended himself, pointing the salad spoon he was currently using at her.

"Well I'm sorry but when you whine every night about not being able to finish one stupid puzzle and I don't get to have sex with my boyfriend because of a stupid math game, I'm going to repair that situation." Addison gave him a cheeky smile as she sipped her wine.

"Fair enough." Derek shrugged, wondering how exactly he got so obsessed with finishing the puzzle and managed to ignore his extremely hot and horny girlfriend. "God if Mark only knew about that he'd dishone me as his best friend." Addison just laughed and glanced up at him again, clearly agreeing with his statement.

She quickly got back to her magazine, biting the end of the pen like she always did when she thought about something intensely, as Derek brought the food to the table. When everything was set, he walked up behind her, massaging her shoulders and attempting to get a look at what she was doing. Feeling him behind her, she quickly stopped shut the catalog.

"Alright what are you being so secretive about?" He asked, watching her attempt to hide it under a stack of mail.

"Nothing. It's nothing." She responded quickly. Spinning off her seat, she reached for his hand and attempted to pull him away to the table. "Come on. I'm starving."

"What were you looking at?" Derek asked as he leaned backwards to try and get a look. Addison stepped in front of him before he could rifle to the bottom with only his right hand.

"Will you let it go? You can't see yet." Addison argued, putting her hands on his face so he'd look at her and not the catalog.

"Yet? Is it something for me?" He enquired with raised eyebrows, excited about the prospect of a gift.

"Maybe." She teased, kissing his neck as a distraction.

"What's the occasion?" He asked, trying to catch a glimpse and not get too into her seduction now before she had a chance to move the magazine later.

"Christmas. Now stop with the questions." Addie said, continuing to trail kisses down his jaw to his favorite spot behind his ear.

"Christmas?" Derek sounded extremely surprised, pulling back from her warm lips to make eye contact. "Christmas is in like two and a half weeks."

"Yeah well you can never be too prepared. Plus, it's my favorite holiday. I get excited very early on." Derek nodded in understanding, accepting the kiss she offered him. They continued to make out for a little before Derek pulled away again. Addison let out a frustrated sigh.

"What is it? I have to know! I'm bad with surprises."

"Derek! You sound like you're twelve." Derek shrugged his shoulders and offered her a dreamy smile to make up for it. It was his turn for seduction as he began to slowly and sensually kiss her neck in hopes of wearing her down. "God you're frustrating!" She moaned out softly, very much enjoying what he was doing.

"I try." He mumbled into her neck, not giving up.

"I'm not telling you." She said firmly. Derek pulled back and made brief eye contact before attacking her lips in a heated kiss.

"Are you sure about that?" Derek held her gaze, waiting for her to cave. His hands running under her sweater were clearly having an affect.

"Yes I am." She managed to get out sternly. "What I will tell you is that…" Addison began, reaching around to remove his hands from her shirt so she could take it off herself. "…in thirty seconds I will be lying on my bed" Reaching around, she unzipped her skirt, stepped out of it, and tossed it on the couch "naked, waiting for you, to join me." Derek's eyes were glued to her barely their lingerie. She started to walk backwards as she spoke. "You can stay here, rummage through the mystery catalog, try to figure out what I'm getting you in order to satisfy your curiosity…or, you can come and join me in there. One or the other. It's your choice." Addison winked at him as she slowly turned to enter her bedroom. Derek stood there in awe, only shook from it when her bra collided with his chest.

Looking at the lingerie in his hand, Derek practically ran the ten more feet to her room. Enveloping her in his arms, he lifted her from the ground and used their bodies to slam the door closed. She giggled as his hands tickled her skin and he ravished her mouth in a passionate kiss. When Derek broke away from her mouth to taste the skin of her neck and chest, Addison's head fell back against the door.

"You know, I wasn't sure you'd come. You seemed really obsessed with your…" Derek enveloped her lips in another deep kiss before she could finish her sentence.

"Shhh, no talking." He muttered briefly before reconnecting their lips and pulling her body from the door. Making his way carefully to the bed, Derek tossed her on top of it before shedding his shirt and covering her body with his own. Addison reached for him instantly and ran her hands through his hair to his back. Her nails trailed up and down his back as he sucked on her neck. Wanting more, Addison acrobatically flipped them over so she was on top and straddling his thighs.

"Wow." Derek looked up, impressed at her move. She winked down at him as she worked on the belt of his jeans. As soon as she pulled it through the loops and tossed it aside, Derek grabbed her thighs to flip them back over. He kissed her again as she undid the button of his pants. Addison sat up slightly to push them off his hips as far as possible before Derek took over and did the rest. Reaching up, he pulled down her underwear off as well. Butterfly kissing his way back up her body, he rested himself comfortably between his legs.

"You know, if you just put a bow on yourself Christmas morning, I think I'll be extremely satisfied." Derek teased, pushing a few stray hairs from her face.

"I bet you would." Derek nodded emphatically, causing Addison to laugh. "I'll see what I can do." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her once again.

**Two Weeks Later**

**Seattle Grace**

**12:30 P.M.**

"Okay seriously, stop smiling. Like your freaking me out woman!" Bailey ordered, placing her tray down in the cafeteria.

"What is with all the negativity? Tis' the season to be jolly Miranda. You should really try it once and awhile." Addison responded.

"Okay, Christmas isn't for another week, so I need to save all of my Christmas joy for then. Tucker's parents are coming into town so I really need to save up my happiness." Addison started to laugh. "Don't laugh. You'll have in-laws one day. And when you start to bitch and moan, I'll be here to laugh at you."

"Are you kidding? Parents love me." Addison bragged, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"We'll see. So, seriously, what is with all the smiling?"

"Nothing special. I just love Christmas. It's my favorite time of year by far, and this year, for the first time in a long time, I have someone truly special to celebrate it with."

"God you're like a love sick teenager." Miranda said, sipping her water.

"Okay ouch." Addison said, slightly offended.

"It's a good thing, relax. We've all been there. It's that time when the relationship is simple and fun and intimate. It's the best."

"I sense a but coming. Is something wrong between you and Tucker?"

"Let's just say there is a "but" coming, but its going to need about nine months to develop." Addison's eyes widened as she figure out what Miranda was saying.

"Oh my God. You're pregnant!" Addison sat up, extremely excited.

"Yes. Now keep it down. No one knows yet but you."

"That is so amazing. Congratulations Miranda." Addison said sincerely, touching her arm. "Am I really the first person you told?" Miranda nodded. "I'm honored."

"Well since you're the best, you're obviously going to be my OB/GYN. It helps if they know what's going on." Bailey said. Addison smiled at the honor.

"I'll do your first exam later today." Addison replied.

"Exam for what?" Derek asked, coming up from behind Addison. She quickly sat up in her seat and looked at Bailey nervously.

"None of your business, child." Addison tried to stifle her laugh as Derek silenced. "I have a surgery to get to. Addison, I'll see you later."

"Bye, Dr. Bailey." Derek waved sheepishly as she walked away.

"She told you." Addison joked, turning her seat more to face his. She reached for her sandwich, but Derek got to it first. "Hey, I'm hungry!" She whined.

"You're supposed to be on my side when it comes to my abuse." He replied, taking a bite and leaning back, holding the sandwich away from her.

Addison rolled her eyes and reached, but couldn't get it, as Derek kept moving the sandwich further and further away. Addison sat up straight, momentarily stopping her fight. Derek smiled, believing he had won. Addison smiled back seductively, planning her next move. Reaching forward, she took his scrub top in her hand and pulled him to her. Derek quickly gave into the kiss she offered, sitting up more fully to deepen it. Addison slyly waited until he was close enough before reaching for the sandwich without him fight. Once she had it, she broke away from the kiss and leaned back in her seat.

"Thank you very much." She said, taking a bite from her sandwich. "And I just happen to find Miranda's abuse of you, Preston, and Mark extremely funny. She's right most of the time anyway."

"I bet." Derek replied, reaching for her chair to pull her closer and kiss her again. "How's your day going?" He asked, resting his hands on her knees.

"Good. I placed the order for the gifts for your parents before I left for work this morning so they should get there right in time for Christmas." Derek nodded, kissing her knuckles.

"Thank you. My mom is going to love that quilt."

"I hope so."

"I know so. You have amazing taste." Addison leaned in to kiss him.

"Thank you baby." She said, lacing their fingers together.

"I'm serious. You can never leave me. After buying everyone such good presents this year, there are now expectations." Addison nodded in understanding, smiling at him. "So I guess you're stuck with me forever." Derek said confidently.

"It looks that way, yes." She replied, moving some of his hair off his forehead. Before Derek could say anything, a pager went off. They both looked down.

"It's me." Derek said. Addison gave him a small pout in disapproval, which Derek smiled at before leaning in to kiss it away. Reaching behind her, he broke off half of her sandwich and took a bite. "Thanks love."

"Anytime babe." She watched him stand up before getting back to what remained of her lunch. "Oh wait, Derek!" She called out, turning in her chair to speak to him. "We still on for tree shopping after work?"

"Of course." Derek winked at her before continuing out of the cafeteria.

**Derek's House**

**8:00 P.M. **

"So, it's official. You picked out the largest tree in the place." Derek said, brushing off his pants.

"It is not!"

"Adds, you had to call in reinforcements just to get it off the car and into the house." Mark spoke up from the kitchen, cracking open a beer.

"Yeah, well, it's really pretty." Addison defended herself, staring up at the tall pine tree now residing in Derek's living room.

"Just like you." Derek said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. Addison turned her face to kiss Derek's cheek as she rubbed the arm on her waist.

"Nice one, dude." Mark commented. Derek shot him a look in reply, tightening his hold as he kissed her cheek again. Addison leaned back against his body, admiring the tree for another few seconds. Patting his arm, she turned around to face him. Leaning in, she kissed him deeply on the mouth. "Scotch or beer?"

"Beer." He answered with a smile, finally lowering his hands from where they rested on the small of her back. Walking past the couch, she ruffled Mark's hair. He grabbed at her wrist, stopping her movement.

"What? I don't get a kiss for my heavy lifting." He asked, grinning up at her.

"No, you don't." Derek intervened quickly, sitting down on the reclining chair next to the couch. Addison gave Derek a reassuring glance before giving Mark a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." Mark said smugly, sipping at his beer. Derek looked over at him unhappily. "Come on, smile! It's the Christmas season."

"Shove it." Derek replied. Mark toasted his beer in his direction, still laughing at him. Addison returned with a beer for herself and one for Derek. Placing both on the table next to the chair, she adjusted her skirt to properly sit down in his lap. Derek opened her beer and handed it to her, tossing the cap at Mark.

"Real mature." Derek was the one to smile smugly this time, wrapping an arm around her waist. Reaching around to the side of the chair, he pushed the button to recline. Addison giggled as they fell backwards, adjusting herself against him.

"God that really is a beautiful tree." Addison admired.

"For how heavy it was, it should be." Mark remarked. Addison looked at him briefly but chose to ignore his comment.

"Hey, can we go decoration shopping this weekend? We need to spruce it up and make it look perfect!" Addison said enthusiastically.

"Of course we can." Derek replied with a smile, tilting his head up for a kiss. Addison obliged, running a hand over his cheek. Mark turned on the television to distract himself, surfing until he found the Yankee game. He didn't get through a batter before his pager went off, followed quickly by Derek's.

"Fantastic." Mark said, grabbing his pager from his waist. "911?"

"Yea, but not from the ER or ICU. It's Richard's private line. What could he want this late?"

"I don't know, but mine's from the ER so I have to go. Want a ride?" Mark asked, getting his jacket.

"Yeah. Where are your car keys, babe? I can just drive that back so you'll have it tomorrow."

"In my bag." She responded, resituating herself on the recliner and reaching for the remote. Derek found them and headed back towards her.

"I'll be as quick as I can." He whispered, giving her a fast kiss on the lips. Addison grabbed at his sweater to pull him back down.

"Good because…" Whatever else Addie said Mark couldn't hear, he just watched as Derek's whole facial expression dropped from what she said. "Drive safe, Mark." She shouted over her shoulder.

"Drive fast, Mark. Let's make this as quick as possible, shall we?" He said, speeding out the door.

"What did she just say to you?" He questioned, shutting the door behind himself.

"Oh, there will be too much temptation to blow off my page if I repeat it. Just drive." Derek ordered, a huge grin on his face.

**Richard's Office**

**8:30 P.M. **

Derek raced down the relatively empty hall leading to Richard's office. When he finally reached the door, he didn't bother pausing in Patricia's now empty office and continued on to Richard's. Knocking, he caught his breath. He really wanted to get home.

"Enter." Richard called out, lowering the news from the television in his room.

"Chief. Is everything okay? It's pretty late at night for a meeting."

"I apologize for the short notice, but it's important. You seen the news today?" Richard asked.

"Uh, no actually. Long day. Went tree shopping after work. What happened?" He questioned, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"A helicopter crashed outside of Virginia. Turns out there was some sort of financial hot shot on board. He was found alive, but in critical condition. The name Samuel Murphy mean anything to you?"

"Can't say it does. What does this have to do with me?"

"Apparently his son, Ross, went to medical school with you and has been following your career. He knows you're the best, and made a personal call to the hospital tonight asking for your services." Derek leaned back in his seat, trying to place the last name.

"Ross Murphy! He dropped out like second semester. Couldn't take the blood."

"Well, he's a financial whiz kid now, and did his research on doctors for his dad. He wants you, in Virginia, by Saturday." Richard said, pointing at Derek.

"Saturday? That's in two days!"

"I'm aware. I could only put him off that long because of your surgery on the seven-year-old with epilepsy tomorrow. I have assigned Davidson to his follow up care so you can go."

"Why are you so hardcore about this, Richard?" Derek asked inquisitively.

"He's offering a significant donation to Seattle Grace in exchange for your services. I don't just loan out my surgeons to the highest bidder, but we're talking big dollars. Besides, with the damage being described, he's going to need your expertise."

"This is fantastic." Derek said sarcastically. "What am I going to tell Addison? We're supposed to spend Christmas together. She has plans. A lot of plans. All of which include me, her doting boyfriend."

"She'll understand Derek. She's a doctor too."

"No one on the entire east coast can take care of him? At least until after the holiday? I have a lot of patients here who need me too."

"We can build the new clinic that's been discussed with this kind of money, Shepherd. He's not joking around." Derek studied Richard's face. He could tell this was not an argument he was going to win. Addison was not going to be very happy with him.

"I'd like the most updated chart faxed here immediately, as well as his MRI scans."

"Thank you, Derek. This is very important for the hospital."

"Your welcome. May I go? It's been a long day."

"Of course." Derek nodded and stood up. Closing the door behind him, Derek leaned up against it. Addison was so excited to spend their first Christmas together, and to be honest, so was he. Her gifts had been picked out for a month, and couldn't wait to give them to her Christmas morning. Them being on opposite sides of the country was not what he had in mind for their first Christmas as a couple.

**Derek's House**

**10:00 P.M. **

Derek quietly made his way into the house, the smell of pine immediately overwhelming his senses. Looking the tree up and down, all he could see was Addison's smiling face when she first saw it. Her eyes lit up, and he knew this was the one for her. Climbing up the stairs two at a time, he walked down the small hallway to the master bedroom. As he suspected, Addison was curled up under the covers, wearing a t-shirt and pair of boxers that belonged to him, watching some sort of romantic comedy she found on a movie channel. She smiled up at him as she curled herself more into a ball.

Derek moved past the TV quickly as to not to disturb her viewing. He sat down on his side of the bed to remove his watch and wallet. Removing his jeans and sweater, he slid under the covers and wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her as close to him as possible. Addison intertwined her fingers with his and turned slightly to face him.

"How was the hospital?" She asked.

"Shh. Finish your movie, we can talk about it after." Derek kissed her neck and encouraged her to lay back down. To be honest with himself, he wanted more time to figure out how to tell her he was ditching her during her favorite time of the year.

XXXXXXXXX

All of Derek's thinking had exhausted him, because by the time the movie was over, he had passed out holding Addison close. Shutting off the TV, she carefully turned in his arms to face him, admiring his beautiful features. Leaning in, she started to place feathery kisses all over his face. Derek slowly became conscious, tightening his grip on her waist and rolling on to his back so that she was lying on top of him. His eyes were still closed, but he was definitely awake.

"Comfortable?" She asked. Derek adjusted his body, folding his arms behind his head and finally opening his eyes.

"Now I am. Do continue." Addison laughed at him, kissing him briefly on the lips before folding her own hands on his chest and resting her chin on them.

"Now, remember how I told you my parents were vacationing in Spain for the holiday?" Derek nodded. "Well, they decided to come back early and take a layover in Seattle to see me for the holiday instead of my brother and his crazy wife. So, they're going to be in town for Christmas Eve and want to meet you." Addison said. Derek opened his mouth to say something, but she continued. "Now I know we said it would just be the two of us, but I figure we have all of Christmas Day to spend together. And I talk about you all the time so my mom is insisting on meeting the man who's kept me 3000 miles away from her all these months." Addison looked away at the last part, blushing slightly. Derek moved his hands from behind his head to her face.

"You talk about me all the time?" He asked playfully. Addison buried her face in his chest instead of responding. Lifting her face up, he smiled dreamily at her. "Have I ever told you how cute you are when you blush?"

"Once or twice." She smiled down at him "So, what do you think? Can you handle an inquisition into your personal life on Christmas Eve to appease my folks?" Derek's smile dropped. He hated having to upset her. "Pretty please?" She teased, running her hand over his stubbly face.

"I'd love to meet the Montgomery's." Derek said, massaging her temples with his thumbs. Addison's smile widened as she leaned down to kiss him and roll off his body on to her side of the bed.

"Thank you babe."

"I subjected you to my family, so its only fair I meet yours." Derek rationalized, adjusting his pillow.

"Oh please, I love your family." She said, doing the same as she settled into bed.

"And I'm sure I'll love yours." Addison reached around Derek to turn off the lamp on the nightstand.

"We'll see about that." She joked, kissing him quickly once more. "Goodnight baby."

"Goodnight." He whispered back, wrapping an arm around her waist once again.

"I almost forgot. How was the hospital? Everything okay with Richard?" Derek took a deep breath in, debating if he had to tell her the truth. _No, you just need more time to figure something else out. Don't ruin her Christmas now. _

"Everything's fine. Just wanted a consult on himself to make sure everything was okay after the surgery from a few months ago. Nothing to worry about." Derek kissed her neck as she nodded in understanding. He watched her eyes drift closed, and as her breathing steadied, he could tell when she fell asleep. Derek stayed awake as long as possible, brainstorming on how to literally be two places at once, and not let down the woman he loved.

**So this got extremely long, and I wanted to post something for everyone tonight so this is part two of my first Addek Christmas! Review a lot and the next chapter could be up as soon as tomorrow since I'm 90 percent done with part two! Hope you all like this better than the show, because lets face it, the whole admitting love for someone else part sucked!**


	21. Have a Merry Little Christmas Part II

**Part two has arrived, quickly as promised! Hope you're satisfied with the conclusion! Review as always.**

**Seattle Grace**

**4:30 P.M. **

"Alright, let's see shall we. Now, this is not meant to be condescending in anyway, but the gel's going to be cold." Addison warned.

"Thanks for the warning." Miranda replied, lightly squeezing Tucker's hand. Addison nodded and began to move the wand over her stomach.

"There he is. Looks good. Proper size for this week in your pregnancy. If you give me one second, I should be able to find the…" Before Addison could finish, the sound of the heartbeat filled the room. Miranda looked mesmerized at the screen. Addison observed the emotion overcoming her friend and the happiness she shared with her husband. "I'll leave you two alone for a moment." Addison quietly slipped out of the room and headed to the nurses' station.

"Dr. Montgomery, I have the labs you ordered on Christine Wilkes." George spoke up. Addison quickly shut Miranda's chart.

"Oh, great, thank you." Addison started to scan them, worried when she observed the high white blood cell count. "O'Malley, have Anderson from Oncology paged to Ms. Wilkes' room. I think we may have found the reason for her broken leg."

"Okay." George hurriedly took the chart back and headed for the nearest phone.

"Oh, George, before you go, have you seen Dr. Stevens around lately? I was hoping to speak to her about…everything that happened with Dorie."

"She's doing better than she was, but to be perfectly honest, she's still very upset." George bravely spoke up.

"I know. I just wanted to give her a few weeks to calm down before trying to rationalize myself again. Do you know who she was assigned to today?" Addison asked, hopeful he would give her an answer.

"She was assigned to the pit, but actually just got pulled into a briefing with Dr. Shepherd and the chief about that high-profile patient they're flying to D.C. for." Addison's eyes widened.

"What's in D.C.?" She questioned.

"Apparently Dr. Shepherd was recruited to take care of that business mogul who's helicopter went down two days ago. They're leaving tomorrow. Didn't he mention it to you?" George asked, very confused as he dialed the number for Oncology.

"No, he didn't." Addison took a moment to gather herself. "I'll meet you in Christine's room in ten O'Malley." After stopping briefly in Miranda's room, Addison headed for her office. Throwing Bailey's chart on to her desk, she started to pace. It made no sense why he wouldn't tell her. Did he even plan to? Was he going to leave and hope she didn't notice? She was getting a very big migraine, and began to aggressively search her drawers for Tylenol. Not finding any, she slammed them shut and plopped down in her chair.

"Knock, knock." Mark came up to her door, slowly opening it. He quickly took in her frazzled appearance, and shut the door behind himself. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. Derek's flying to D.C. tomorrow and chose not to tell me, but other than that, I'm swell." Addison said bitterly, leaning back in her chair. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Probably as much as anyone else. I haven't spoken to him personally about it, but the rumor is that Derek was recruited by some rich kid we went to medical school with. His dad has massive head trauma and he wants the best. He did his research and tracked Derek down. Apparently he's so serious that he's donating enough money to the hospital for a new wing." Mark said, lacing his fingers on his stomach.

"A new wing? How rich are these people?"

"Less than Gates, more than Trump." Mark said with confidence.

"Seriously?" Addison's jaw dropped.

"Seriously." Mark reassured.

"Was he going to tell me about all of this? Or was I just going to wake up Christmas morning alone?" Addison was thinking irrationally, but was too overwhelmed to care.

"You know he'd never do that. He was probably just thinking of how to best do it." Mark reached out to take her hand. "I mean, it's Derek. He's always been the nicer one. Plus, you've made him even sappier and more romantic. I don't even recognize him anymore"

"Shut up." She said, yanking her hand back, but finally cracking a smile. "Alright I have a patient to check on. If you see Derek, tell him I'd like to talk to him." Addison said, fixing her lab coat as she walked out of the room. Mark watched her go, following behind her and shutting the door, thinking to himself how happy was to not be Derek right now.

**Seattle Grace**

**8:00 P.M. **

Derek had a late surgery to fit everything in before leaving for D.C., so he left a note with Addison that he'd meet her at her place. He hadn't talked to her much all day being so busy, but he was nervous to go home and tell her the bad news. As he was changing into his street clothes rather quickly, he heard the door to the locker room open and close, but ignored it.

"Hey man." Mark said, approaching him. Derek looked up briefly, nodding at him before finishing getting ready. "You heading home?"

"Well, to Addie's. I still have to tell her about D.C. I've been putting it off all day. She has all these plans for Christmas and she's so excited, and…"

"She knows." Mark interrupted him. The change in his face was evident.

"What?"

"O'Malley mentioned Izzie packing and Addie put two and two together." Derek shut his locker and leaned his forehead against it, defeated.

"How mad is she?" He asked, a little afraid to hear the answer.

"She's past mad. I think she's just upset that you didn't tell her when you found out and she had to hear it from an intern."

"Dude, I'm supposed to meet her parents on Christmas Eve. She was so nervous and excited last night when she asked me and I just impulsively said yes. I don't want to let her down." Derek sat down on the bench to tie his shoes.

"She's a big girl, Derek. She'll understand. She knows what it's like to be a surgeon. Just get home, give her that dreamy smile that women seem to drool over, and apologize…a lot." Mark said, patting him on the arm.

"Thanks." Derek said sarcastically. "I'll see you tomorrow before I leave."

"Good luck." He called over his shoulder.

**Addison's Apartment**

**8:30 P.M. **

Derek reached Addison's door and took a deep breath in. The hard part was over since she actually knew, but he wasn't excited to explain himself. A smile only goes so far, especially with her. Knocking lightly, he heard her call out a weak "come in". Letting himself in, he put his bag by the door and hung his coat on a hook.

"Hey." He said lightly, walking towards where she was washing dishes in the kitchen.

"Hi." She said back, not turning around. Her eyes were intently focused downwards as she finished up the last plate.

"How was your day?" He asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Fine." She responded shortly, grabbing a dish towel to dry her hands.

"That's good." He countered. "Any interesting cases?"

"Nope." She responded shortly again. Silence filled the room as Derek racked his brain for something else to say to keep their conversation alive. As his mouth opened to say something else, she finally spoke up.

"Are we really going to do this, Derek?" She questioned, a hurt tone in her voice.

"Do what?" He asked, wincing at her tone.

"I'm sure Mark told you I know about Washington. The secrets out so you can stop beating around the bush. You're leaving tomorrow for two weeks. High-profile case; lots of money for the hospital. It's fine, really. Have a great time." Addison threw her dish towel on the rack and stormed out of the kitchen.

Derek watched her leave, sick to his stomach that he was the one to make her so sad. Usually he was just there to comfort her. This side of the line was not nearly as much fun. He waited for a few seconds before following after her. Entering her bedroom as quiet as possible, he found her looking out the window, arms wrapped around herself for comfort. She turned her head slightly when the door creaked open, but kept her focus solely on the window.

Slowly, he made his was over to her. When he was finally behind her, he carefully brought his hands up to her shoulders, hoping she wouldn't shy away from him. Hoping to relax her, he started to massage her shoulders, occasionally dropping down to her upper arms, and then back up. Thankfully, he could feel his ministrations working. Brushing the hair off her left shoulder, he leaned in to kiss her neck. Unfortunately, he pushed too far, and she immediately pulled away from him.

"Addie, please." Derek begged.

"No, Derek. It's not that simple. You can't just be all charming and expect me to not be mad. That's not how it works." Addison tone was sharp and Derek couldn't help but flinch.

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'm sorry."

"Why did you lie to me?" She asked, frustrated.

"I'd never lie to you, Adds. You know that." He said sincerely.

"When you came home last night I asked you how the hospital was. I asked if you were okay with dinner with my folks. That would have been a really perfect time for you to share the fact that you'll be across the country and thus unavailable for the meal!"

"I'm sorry. I want to meet your parents. I want to spend the holiday with you, not in some random hospital with some random patient. I just…I was hoping to find some way out of it and stop myself from letting you down. I know how much Christmas means to you, and I wanted to be there for every thing you wanted to do together." Derek met Addison's gaze, looking at her as sincerely as possible, hoping she could see how sorry he was.

"I hate it when you do that." She whispered. Derek looked at her, confused at her change in demeanor.

"Forget to tell you that I'm leaving town for two weeks?"

"No, well yeah, but that's not what I meant. I hate when you're all charming and then I don't get to be mad at you anymore without feeling bad." Addison looked down at her feet, unable to see the smile on his face. Derek relaxed upon hearing that and moved back next to her. Pulling her into his body, he wrapped his arms around her and waited for her to do the same.

"You're still allowed to be mad. I would appreciate a hug though. It's been a long day." Addison smiled into his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you." He said, rubbing her back in slow circles.

"Yeah, no problem." Pulling back, she slapped him in the chest. "I'm still mad." She said pointedly, walking out of the bedroom and back to the kitchen. Derek trailed behind her quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck.

"Easy there boy. I still want an explanation of what's going on." Addie said, freeing herself from Derek's hold.

"To sum it up, very rich son wants premier brain surgeon, me, to fix his richer father for very big pay day for the hospital. So Richard has pimped me out for the week."

"That clears everything up, thanks." Addison said sarcastically, tossing him a water bottle.

"I got the chart this morning. It's not good. Massive swelling, numerous bleeds. It's truly amazing he's still alive."

"What time do you leave?" Addison asked, opening her water.

"9." He responded.

"That's early." She countered, clearly trying to not get upset. Derek moved around the island to hug her.

"I'm so sorry, baby." He whispered into her hair.

"I know you are. It's not your fault. I was just excited for our first Christmas together, that's all." She said, wiping her eyes of the few tears that fell. "Maybe we could take a trip to Rhode Island after the holiday and my parents could meet you then?" She offered.

"You bet. As soon as we can both get off, we're there." Addison nodded.

"How long will you be gone?" She asked, leaning against his body.

"Looking at about two weeks. I won't know for sure until I see him in person." He responded.

"I know you have to be up early, but could you stay the night? Two weeks is a long time and I might start to miss you." Addison teased. Derek smiled at her, leaning into kiss her on the mouth for the first time all night.

"Of course I can." Derek reassured her, running a thumb over her cheek. Addison leaned in to kiss him again before pulling away to turn off the lights in the kitchen and living room. Walking back over to Derek's outstretched arm, she latched an arm around her waist and walked in step with him to her bedroom.

**Five Days Later**

**Seattle Grace**

**11:30 A.M.**

"Merry Christmas Eve." Mark said, coming up behind Addison with two coffees in hand.

"Thanks." She looked up, smiling weakly at him and accepting the coffee.

"You look beat. Who was keeping you up all night?" Mark said suggestively.

"It amazes me that you and Derek are best friends." Addison reasoned, getting back to her chart. "And since you're so inquisitive today, Derek and I were on the phone for like three hours last night. I couldn't sleep so he stayed up and talked to me."

"Ah, I taught him well." Mark said proudly. Addison almost spit out her coffee in laughter.

"Oh yeah, you're one and the same." Addison shut her chart and started to walk away.

"Now is that anyway to treat a friend?" Mark asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Especially one that's taking you to lunch?" Addison looked up at him and smiled lightly.

"No, I suppose its not. Thank you Mark."

"No need to thank me. I remember borrowing lunch money from you in 9th grade. I've been meaning to pay you back." He teased, smiling as she wrapped an arm around her waist. They made their way to the cafeteria together, talking lightly about the latest hospital gossip.

"So, are your parents still coming into town tonight?" Mark asked.

"Yep. We're going to dinner after my shift."

"Where?" Mark enquired.

"The fish place overlooking the water, Paparazzi. Derek took me there on our little "date" when you got stuck in surgery when I first got back to town. It's amazing."

"Yeah, it's not bad." Mark smiled at her. "What time?"

"8:30. Why?" Addison asked, puzzled by all the questions. Mark looked down at his hamburger, trying to think quickly on his feet.

"I saw you had a later surgery on the board. I was going to offer up my spot earlier in the day so you're not late or anything. It's not like I have such big plans."

"That would be great, Mark. Thank you."

"No sweat. Why don't you go tell your patient and the scrub nurse about the switch so that they're prepped in time?" He offered.

"I will. Thank you again." Standing up, Addison leaned into give Mark a kiss on the cheek. "I knew it was only a matter of time before Derek rubbed off on you." Pinching his cheek slightly, she walked out of the cafeteria. Mark made sure she was gone before whipping out his blackberry to send a very important message.

**Paparazzi **

**8:30 P.M. **

"Hi, reservation for three. It should be under Montgomery." Addison said when she reached the hostess' stand of the restaurant.

"Yes, here we are. Follow me please." The hostess led Addison through the restaurant. As they approached a table overlooking the water, she could see her parents talking animatedly about something.

"Addison!" Her mom, Beth, exclaimed upon seeing her approach. Both she and Addie's Dad, Thomas, stood up to greet her.

"Hi mom!" She exchanged hugs with both of them before Thomas helped her out of her coat.

"How are you, honey?" Her mom asked.

"I'm good, I'm good. You know, long day at work." Addison began to sit down across from her mom, but noticed the setting was already disturbed. "Did you guys invite someone else to come?" She asked, moving over to the set across from her father while motioning to the table.

"No. We didn't invite anyone." Thomas answered.

"So then who's the mystery guest?" Addie asked, confused. Her mom's smile widened as the man approached from behind Addie's seat.

"That would be me." Addison froze at the familiar voice behind her, almost too scared to turn around and be mistaken. Taking a deep breath in, she put her menu down and stood up.

"Oh my god." Addison wasn't mistaken. There was Derek, very well dressed in a black suit, his dreamy smile on as always.

"Surprise." He said lowly. Addison was overwhelmed with emotion. She turned to look back at her parents, both of whom were smiling, and then turned back to Derek.

"Would you excuse us for one minute?" She asked her parents, walking towards Derek and grabbing his arm, not waiting for an actual answer. She pulled him to the back of the restaurant and in to the single-stall women's rest room.

"Addie, you know this is the women's room right?" He asked, laughing lightly as he looked around. Addison's attention was focused solely on the lock. Once she finally got it shut, she practically leapt into Derek's arms, firmly kissing him on the mouth. The force of her body pushed them both into the wall. After a few more kisses, Addison pulled back from his lips and wrapped her arms around him. Burying her face in his neck, she started to cry lightly.

"Hey, don't cry. If I had known that was going to happen, I would have just stayed in D.C." He joked, rubbing circles on her back.

"How did you…when did you…I'm so confused!" Addison tried to form a coherent sentence but was having tremendous difficulty. Derek got the jest of what she was going for and started to fill in the blanks.

"Well…" Derek kissed the back of her hand. "I performed Mr. Murphy's second operation this morning. He came out of anesthesia well and the chief resident at Metro West is an old friend from college and he offered to keep a special eye on him. After my heart-wrenching story about being with my beautiful girlfriend for Christmas, the son said it was okay for me to come home. I booked myself on the first flight back here, told Mark to find out when and where you were meeting your parents, begged him to pick me up for the airport and drive me home to shower and get ready, and then came here to surprise you." Derek flashed her another smile, and Addison leaned into give him a softer kiss of gratitude.

"You don't know what this means to me, Derek." She kissed him once more before threading their fingers together and unlocking the door. Three angry women were standing outside, so Derek held on extra tight to Addison's hand and avoided eye contact. They made there way back to the table and Derek pulled out Addison's chair for her to sit.

"You okay, Addie?" Beth asked.

"Better than okay." She grinned widely, reaching under the table to grab Derek's hand. There eyes met briefly while everyone pursued their menus for something good to eat. He squeezed her hand tighter and winked at her.

XXXXXXXXXX

"How did I never know you took ballet as a kid?" Derek asked, rubbing her shoulder as he rested his arm on the back of her chair.

"Because I never chose to share that little bit of information. Thanks mom." She said sarcastically.

"Relax sweetie. You looked very cute in your little leotard." Derek couldn't help but start laughing

"Okay, story times' over. Why don't we get the check?" Addison propositioned, getting the waiter's attention.

"You know Derek, if you guys ever make it out to Rhode Island, we have albums full of pictures." Thomas said, smiling at his daughter

"Now we're definitely coming to visit. Right Add?" Addison buried her face in her hands.

"I think it would just be better to break up now, save the airfare. I was a very awkward back in the day. You may not want to be with me anymore." She joked.

"I'll take my chances." Derek reassured her, leaning in to place a kiss on her temple. His pager suddenly rang out, causing him to sit up and pulled it from his belt. "It's the hospital in D.C."

"Everything okay?" She asked, scared he'd be leaving so soon.

"Yeah. I asked them to page me around now so I could get an update on his condition. It will just take two minutes. Excuse me." Derek stood from the table and dropped his napkin on the chair. Addison adjusted her seat to face more forward.

"Alright, what do you think?" Addison cautiously asked. Her parents, especially her father, were notoriously hard on her boyfriends. No one seemed to ever measure up, not even her ex-fiancée.

"Addie, he's fantastic." Her father spoke up first. Both Addie and her mom looked at him in awe. "What?" He questioned.

"You have never approved of anyone I've dated."

"Yeah, what's your point?" They both looked harder at him for an explanation. "To be honest, I've never really been too fond of your exes. Derek I like." Thomas said, sipping his coffee.

"So, pigs can fly." Her mom joked and Addison laughed with her.

"Hey, it's not fault if you've never picked a man good enough for you before." Addison stopped laughing and looked at her father's sincerity.

"And you think Derek is?"

"Any man who would go out of his way like he did today just to be with you on your favorite holiday and make you happy because he loves you is worthy of my approval."

"Thanks daddy." Addison said, reaching out her hand to his.

"Not that it matters apparently, but I love him too. And he's hot." Beth added. Addison nearly spit out her water at her remark. Thomas wasn't as thrilled, giving her a very unhappy look. "Oh, honey, you know I love you. I'm just saying, on my daughter's behalf, he's very good looking. Great hair."

"I know, right?" Addison said to her mom. They shared a brief back and forth until Thomas cleared his throat to quiet them down as he saw Derek returning.

"What's so funny?" He asked, sitting back down.

"Nothing, sweetie." She said, running a hand through the hair at the back of his neck. He looked around the table confused, but let it go when Thomas mouthed to him to not worry about it. They talked casually for a few more minutes before the waiter brought the check and Thomas paid the bill.

"You kids go ahead. I'm sure Derek's had a long day with the time change. I'll take care of this."

"Are you sure, dad?"

"Of course honey." Addison nodded. All four of them stood up, sharing goodbyes with each other. Derek put a hand on the small of Addison's back to guide her out. When they reached the valet stand, Addison handed over her ticket.

"Did you bring your car?" Addison asked.

"Taxi. Figured we wouldn't need two, right?" He said, pushing a piece of hair that had fallen into her face back behind her ear. Addison smiled at him, running her hands along his chest, up to his shoulders, and back down.

"So… when are they expecting you back in D.C.?" She asked cautiously, praying he wasn't going to be leaving at some absurd hour in the morning. Derek could see her examining her shoes instead of looking at him. Placing a hand under her chin, he slowly nudged it up so they could make eye contact.

"I'm taking the red eye back tomorrow night so we'll have tonight, and all of Christmas together. I'm sorry that I can't stay longer but…" Addison didn't let Derek finish, pulling him into her by his jacket for a passionate kiss.

"That's more than enough for me." She whispered against his face. "Four nights alone was plenty."

"Point taken." Derek laughed, kissing her quickly once more before taking her hand to lead her to the car. Shutting her door, he made his way back around to the drivers seat, slipping the valet a generous tip.

"Thank you sir." The valet accepted Derek's offering.

"Merry Christmas." He responded with a smile.

**Derek's House**

**11:00 P.M. **

"See, that's where your wrong babe. The Yankees are just going throw a phase. They'll get past it."

"Money can buy talent, but not team unity. That's what the Mets have that the Yankees don't."

"Honey, if you tell me your turning into a Mets fan, we have a problem." Derek joked.

"Never sweetie. I wouldn't do that to you."

"And that's why I love you so much." Derek said, kissing the top of her head as he pulled her body into his as they ascended the stairs to the door.

Derek unlocked the door, allowing Addison to go in first. She did, and went straight for the coat closet to hang up her jacket. While she was otherwise occupied, Derek plugged in the lights he spent all day stringing on the tree they picked out. He waited patiently for her to finish up in the closet. When she finally turned around, her breath caught in her throat for the second time that evening as she became hypnotized by the lights.

"It's so beautiful." Addison moved closer to get a better view. Derek came up behind her, massaging her shoulders. "I'm not imagining them, are I?" She asked, causing Derek to laugh.

"No, they are definitely there. My flight got in early, so I stopped at a Christmas store with Mark and bought as much as they had left. Then I came back here and tried my very hardest to make these look presentable. Brain surgery may be simpler." Addison patted his hand as acknowledgement of his joke. "I know you wanted to do it together with all the tinsel and what have you, but I wanted something resembling a family tree for tomorrow morning."

"What did I do to deserve you?" Addison asked. Derek started to open his mouth to make some sort of complimentary remark on her behalf. "No, I'm serious. You've done more for me in these last two days than I could have ever imagined. I don't even know how to start repaying you."

"Addie, you don't have to repay me. Just having you in my life and having you love me is enough." Upon Derek's last sentence, a light bulb in Addie's head went off and she lifted her eyes to meet his with a seductive grin on her face. "What?"

"Well…" Addison started, reaching up to Derek's shoulders to take off his suit jacket. "I may not be in the position for elaborate displays of my love for you like you've given me today, there are a few things I may be able to do to try and make you as happy as you've made me these last few hours." Addison had started to undo her shirt one button at a time as she spoke, and was now topless. "Most of them do involve the bedroom, so if you'd like to follow me…" Addison pulled Derek forward by his shirt collar. He eagerly responded, urging to put his hands on her silky smooth skin. Addison wouldn't let him yet, and instead took his hands into her own and held them as she walked upstairs.

"Now, there are some guidelines to your happiness for this particular Christmas Eve."

"Guidelines?" He asked as she pushed him back down onto the bed. Addison unzipped her pants and slid them off her hips.

"Yes. They're going to change per round."

"Oh, there are rounds?" He said, not even trying to hide how giddy he was at how the evening was turning out.

"I don't have everything worked out quite yet. After all, I am thinking on my feet here. What I do know is that, at this moment, you are too dressed. So we're going to fix that." Addison closed the distance between them and started to work on the buttons of his shirt. Derek reached out to touch her while she worked, but quickly had his hand batted away.

"Rule number one of this round: you don't get to touch." Derek's eyes widened at her statement.

"You've got to be kidding me!" He exclaimed.

"Well, I'm not." She said firmly, pulling him to his feet to she could work on the belt of his pants.

"What kind of gift is this if I don't get to touch you when you're standing in front of me like that?" Addison ignored the question as she worked his pants off his hips and pushed him back down on to the bed.

"Ah, you see my love, that is the fun of round one." She teased, removing her bra on her own and tossing it onto his lap. While he was distracted by that, Addison moved to stand in between his legs and take his face into her hands. Nipping at his lips a few times you tease him, Addison decided he had been patient enough and used her tongue to part his lips and explore his mouth. She allowed this to go on for a few seconds when she could tell he was really getting into it before pulling away.

"Lie back. Get comfortable." She whispered when her trail of kisses led to his ear. Derek obliged, moving to lean against the pillows and excitedly wait for what she had in store. Once he was settled, she crawled across the bed to straddle his hips. Leaning forward, Addison braced her hands on his chest and kissed him again. She could feel his hand approaching her leg and without even breaking the kiss, batted it away.

"How did you know that I was about…" Derek asked incredulously.

"I always know. Now follow the rules and enjoy your Christmas Eve." She said, lightly moving her fingernails over his bare chest.

"I have a feeling this is going to be the best Christmas yet."

**Next Morning**

**Derek's House**

After a long night of Addison "repaying" Derek for all he had done to make Christmas special for her, they passed out from sheer exhaustion, wrapped up in each other's arms. The next morning, Derek woke up first from the sun shining through the crack in the blinds. Looking down at Addison still fast asleep next to him, all he wanted to do was stay with her forever and never leave. It was definitely time for the next step in their relationship: four days apart had proven that to him.

Shifting his body slightly, he started to move his hands up and down her legs and stomach. Her skin was so warm and smooth from being underneath the comforter all night that he just couldn't get enough of her. Moving his head over so they shared the same pillow, he took in the scent of her shampoo that always reminded him of her.

Addison's low moans of approval clued Derek into how close to consciousness she was. Her eyes began to flutter open slowly as she pulled Derek's arm further around her body to get him closer. Satisfied with the closeness, she patted his arm and closed her eyes to drift back to sleep. Derek laughed at her before continuing his exploration of her sleep-warm body.

After a few more minutes of this, Addison seemed to have fallen into another deep sleep. If he moved fast, he could have her favorite breakfast ready before she was awake again. Derek had managed to get most of his body away from hers before she latched on to his hand.

"Where do you think you are going?" She whispered, still drunk on sleep, holding on to his hand tighter.

"Well…" Derek started while moving back to the spot he was previously occupying. "I was going to surprise you with your favorite breakfast, hopefully before you woke up." He whispered into her ear, lightly grazing the lobe with his teeth.

"No." She said, reaching for the other hand to pull it back around her body.

"No?" He repeated with a questioning tone.

"No." Addie turned over so that she was now facing him. "I want you here with me, all day. If we only have today before you have to go back to D.C., then I want to spend all of it in bed with you."

"Okay." He agreed, kissing her forehead. He couldn't help but smile at how cute she was all bossy and assertive when only half awake. "One question though about your plan."

"Shoot." She said, shutting her eyes again.

"Well, it's almost 11:00, and I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little hungry. No one's been here in about four days, so my kitchen's pretty bare. So I'm thinking, I'll run out to the store, grab enough stuff to get us through staying in bed all day, make you a delicious breakfast, and then be back in bed with you before you know it." Derek smiled as her eyes progressively opened.

"I suppose that would be acceptable." He laughed as her eyes closed again. Leaning forward, he took her lips into a soft kiss that grew in intensity as he rolled on top of her. Pulling back, they stared into each other's eyes, conveying all they felt for each other.

"Merry Christmas baby." Derek kissed her again.

"Merry Christmas Derek." They kissed once more before he rolled off of her and out of bed. Throwing on sweats and a jacket, he walked back over to the bed to tuck her back in.

"Stay warm while I'm gone." He tapped her nose, getting amused as he tried to bat her hand away. Having enough amusement to last him, Derek leaned forward to kiss her forehead and turned to leave the room. Pausing at the doorway to make sure she fell back asleep.

**So, I had more planned for this chapter, but I hit page 15 and realized this was getting extremely lengthy. I have a plan to incorporate what didn't make it later on! Hope you all liked the Christmas conclusion. Review, and I'll get crackin' on the next chapter soon!**


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